Hyundai Supplying Waymo With IONIQ 5 Vehicles in New Partnership
Hyundai announced it has entered into a multi-year, strategic partnership with Waymo, which was formerly Google’s self-driving car unit, to bring safe and convenient autonomous driving to its customers.
As part of the first phase of the partnership, the South Korean automaker will integrate Waymo’s sixth-generation fully autonomous technology, the Waymo Driver, into Hyundai’s all-electric IONIQ 5 SUV. Waymo will use Hyundai’s battery-powered vehicle to build a fleet of self-driving taxis in the U.S. The vehicles of that fleet will be assembled at the new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) EV manufacturing facility in Georgia and then integrated with Waymo’s autonomous technology.
“We recently announced the launch of Hyundai Motor Company’s autonomous vehicle foundry business to provide global autonomous driving companies with vehicles capable of implementing SAE Level 4 or higher autonomous driving technology,” said Chang Song, President and Head of Hyundai Motor Group’s Advanced Vehicle Platform (AVP) Division.
“There is no better partner for our first agreement in this initiative than industry-leader Waymo.”
Initial on-road tests are slated to begin by late 2025 and become available to Waymo One riders in the years to follow. Waymo One is the company’s public, fully autonomous ride-hailing service.
Hyundai said the IONIQ 5 will be delivered to Waymo with specific autonomous-ready modifications like redundant hardware and power doors. These vehicles are capable of long driving shifts on a single charge, and its 800-volt architecture minimises time out of service, with fast charging speeds.
“We are thrilled to partner with Hyundai as we further our mission to be the world’s most trusted driver,” said Tekedra Mawakana, CEO at Waymo. “Hyundai’s focus on sustainability and strong electric vehicle roadmap makes them a great partner for us as we bring our fully autonomous service to more riders in more places.”
The new partnership does put into question the status of Waymo's other partnership with Chinese automaker Zeekr, which was previously reported as the first planned sixth-generation platform provider.
Waymo has been working with Zeekr for the past couple of years on an electric robotaxi that could replace its converted mass market models. However, after the announcement of 100% tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) produced in China by the current U.S. administration, it's being speculated that Waymo is looking to work with another supplier, with Zeekr's vehicles expected to become more costly to import.
But Waymo has not revealed any changes with regards to its partnership with Zeekr, so perhaps its previous plans with the Chinese automaker are still moving forward.
Hyundai announced it has entered into a multi-year, strategic partnership with Waymo, which was formerly Google’s self-driving car unit.
The South Korean automaker will integrate Waymo’s sixth-generation fully autonomous technology, the Waymo Driver, into Hyundai’s all-electric IONIQ 5 SUV.
Waymo will use Hyundai’s battery-powered vehicle to build a fleet of self-driving taxis in the U.S.