Hyundai, Avride join forces to develop autonomous robotaxis
Hyundai Motor Company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Yandex spinoff Avride to accelerate autonomous mobility.
Under the partnership, both the firms will jointly develop and operate vehicles capable of fully autonomous driving.
The partnership aims to combine Hyundai's EV platform technology, particularly the IONIQ 5, with Avride's autonomous driving expertise, to advance the development of future mobility solutions, such as robotaxis and autonomous delivery services.
The collaboration builds on Avride's experience of using Hyundai vehicles, such as the Sonata and IONIQ 5, as platforms for autonomous technology.
Hyundai will play a pivotal role in this partnership, providing advanced technology support to enable the deployment of vehicles featuring Avride's autonomous systems.
The agreement will see an increase in Avride's IONIQ 5-based fleet. The first of these vehicles is planned to be deployed in the coming months.
The IONIQ 5 vehicles will be assembled at Hyundai's new new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) manufacturing facility in Georgia. The vehicles will then be outfitted with Avride's technology.
Scheduled to be introduced in Dallas later this year, these robotaxis will be operating exclusively on Uber's platform.
Avride CEO Dmitry Polishchuk said: “Our team has been working with Hyundai Motor Group since 2019, and we value the professionalism and collaboration that have defined this partnership.
“This new agreement with Hyundai Motor Company will help us scale our operations significantly, with plans to expand our fleet to up to 100 autonomous IONIQ 5’s in 2025, leveraging Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ 5 and our autonomous driving technology.”
Both companies will focus on developing autonomous vehicles for robotaxi applications and explore collaboration in autonomous delivery services using Avride's robots.
Hyundai Motor Group Advanced Vehicle Platform (AVP) Division president and head Chang Song said: “Hyundai Motor Company is actively advancing its autonomous vehicle foundry business in pursuit of pioneering vehicles most suitable for Level 4 autonomous driving.
“We are expanding our collaboration with leading autonomous driving tech companies like Avride, fostering an environment where their innovations can actively participate in our endeavor to shape the future of mobility.”
In October 2024, Uber Technologies and Avride teamed up to integrate Avride's delivery robots and autonomous vehicles into the Uber and Uber Eats services.
"Hyundai, Avride join forces to develop autonomous robotaxis" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.
