Waymo and Hyundai have announced a new partnership, where Hyundai will supply a new robotaxi platform for Waymo based on the Ioniq 5 electric crossover SUV. Hyundai will provide special Ioniqs, built in the USA, for further modification by Waymo to turn them into vehicles in the robotaxi fleet. Testing will begin in late 2025, but Waymo anticipates purchasing vehicles in “significant volume.”
This is good news for both companies. Hyundai recently announced its intention to create a unit to build autonomous vehicle platforms. They now have the world leader as a customer. The vehicle will come with the redundant systems that a vehicle with no driver needs, to reduce the risk of any problems from mechanical failure.
Questions arise, however, about the fate of Waymo’s first planned generation 6 platform provider, built by Chinese OEM Geely/Zeekr. They also arise about the status of Motional, the robotaxi startup now largely owned by Hyundai, originally co-owned with Tier-One automotive supplier Aptiv. Motional recently saw the departure of its founder/CEO, and also makes its robotaxis with the Ioniq 5.
This deal was leaked earlier, and I incorrectly speculated the Ioniq was an unexpected platform choice. It’s still surprising. The Ioniq is a nice vehicle, but it’s still a compact crossover SUV. At present there are not plans to produce a version without a steering wheel and pedals, according to Waymo, but that obviously can change fairly easily. Taxi passengers value vehicles which are comfortable and spacious and easy to enter and exit. That was the theme of the design of the Zeekr vehicle, as well as the Zoox and Cruise Origin custom robotaxis. It’s viewed as a downside to the compact Chevy Bolt used by Cruise and planned to be its platform when they resume operations. Waymo’s current platform, a Jaguar i-Pace, is luxurious but also a lower riding, reasonably compact vehicle. EVs tend to that form factor as minivan forms get less range, particularly if they get on fast roads.
Waymo states that there are no changes to their partnership with Zeekr. It makes sense to have a varied robotaxi fleet, to match the vehicle to the ride and number of riders, though in the early stages there are also advantages to having a uniform fleet. The big question is the planned 100% tariff announced by the White House on Chinese EVs. If that applies to the Zeekr, it radically alters the economics of that vehicle for Waymo. The US made Ioniq will take advantage of all government incentives for such vehicles.
Waymo invested a lot in their Zeekr choice and is presumably closing watching to see if they would have to pay that tariff. The scary reality for non-Chinese automakers is that when it comes to a robotaxi, riders don’t care much about who made the underlying vehicle. While Chinese car brands have little presence in the USA, and few even know what a Zeekr is, the low cost of Chinese vehicles was a big win for Waymo. The tariffs can stop that, but history says they are usually only a temporary measure, not a long term solution.
Motional
No mention of Motional was made in the announcement. And this deal is not Hyundai operating robotaxis, it’s them being a supplier for Waymo. As such it doesn’t preclude in any way having Motional also operate a robotaxi fleet using the same underlying platform. Hyundai has every reason to want to be both a supplier to companies like Waymo and also the owner of a competitor to Waymo, as long as everybody is happy about it. At the same time, Motional is many years behind Waymo when it comes to the robotaxi race. Almost everybody, except for Chinese robotaxi companies, is several years behind Waymo. (Tesla is about 7 years behind Waymo, in spite of their plan to announce Robotaxi designs in 5 days.)
In spite of all this, one does wonder what conflicts will arise when a company is both supplier and competitor, and how much Motional will be valued by Hyundai. Aptive decided to get out of Motional, and it was not apparently Hyundai’s choice to become its sole supporter. While Cruise is likely to return, and Zoox is working to open their first service in Las Vegas, it is good if there are several competing players in the USA. Motional may be in 4th place, but it’s still a real contender.
