Ride-hailing service Uber and Hyundai's driverless tech venture, Motional, have launched a robotaxi service in Las Vegas. The launch comes almost two months after Uber and Motional announced a 10-year deal to roll out a robotaxi service across major cities in the U.S. The two companies have been working together for over a year, having earlier announced a partnership to test a driverless delivery service for Uber Eats customers in Santa Monica, California. Motional has already worked with Lyft to add another driverless ride-hailing service in Las Vegas. All the companies investing in autonomous driving technology believe that robotaxis will one day be as common as traditional ride-hailing services.
Many software companies and car makers have been investing heavily in driverless technology, with Google originally taking the lead with its Waymo project, that was announced as far back as 2009. Since then, many others have thrown their hats into the ring, including Tesla, NVIDIA, Amazon's Zoox, GM and Honda's Cruise, Pony.ai, Argo.ai, and more. However, for all the hype surrounding autonomous tech, it hasn't become mainstream, thanks largely to the inherent problems in implementing the technology and the massive safety concerns that are yet to be adequately addressed.
In a press release, Motional says that the new robotaxi service in Las Vegas will use Hyundai's all-electric IONIQ 5 vehicles. It is expected to be a precursor for what the company says will be a fully driverless commercial service to be launched for the public in 2023. The launch is part of the two companies' 10-year deal announced in September and will make use of Motional’s Level 4 autonomous driving tech for both ride-hailing and delivery services in major cities across the U.S. The next stop for Uber and Motional's robotaxi service will be Los Angeles, but further plans were not revealed.
Autonomous Ride-Hailing Service In Las Vegas
With the availability of the new service in Las Vegas, customers can hail autonomous cabs straight from the Uber app. To do that, users will have to select the UberX or Uber Comfort Electric option, and if a robotaxi is available for their route, they will be offered the option to opt for an autonomous trip. If they confirm, a robotaxi will arrive to pick them up and drop them at their destination.
It is worth noting that long before Uber's deal with Motional to start autonomous ride-hailing services, the company was developing its own driverless technology to compete with the likes of Waymo and Tesla. However, the company pulled the plug on its development following multiple safety issues, including a fatal crash that killed a woman in Arizona in 2018. The accident was the first death on record involving a self-driving car and resulted in Uber pressing the brakes on its autonomous ambitions, choosing to instead work with companies like Motional.
Source: Motional