Hyundai and the American autonomous mobility company Motional have announced that the self-driving Ioniq 5 robotaxi will enter the US market next year. A fleet of vehicles has completed its test programs, and the production vehicles are undergoing final validation before entering the market in 2024.
The Ioniq 5 robotaxi is a collaboration between Hyundai and Motional, an American autonomous technology company looking to use self-driving vehicles for ride-hailing and delivery services. With testing complete, the level 4 autonomous Ioniq 5s have entered production at Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS).
Delivering food and people
Level 4 autonomy means the cars can drive themselves without any driver input in geofenced areas like some city parts. However, a human could still request remote control if no steering position is available.
The Ioniq 5 robotaxi is one of several level 4 vehicles to be certified by the American Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), next to the ones of Google’s daughter Waymo or GM’s daughter Cruise.
Permit revoked
The latter just lost its permit temporarily in California after an accident with one of its robotaxis in San Francisco hitting a pedestrian lying on the ground after being hit by another car. Cruise’s CEO, Kyle Vogt, decided to step down after the accident.
Motional has several partners ready to make use of the driverless Ioniq 5 robotaxi in the US. Uber Eats has a 10-year commercial agreement with the company to deliver food to customers, while Lyft has added the robotaxis to its Las Vegas ride-hailing network.
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