The Ioniq 5 is the newest addition to the fleet

The Ioniq 5 is not the First Self-Driving Rodeo: Hyundai’s Robotaxis Cannot be Powered by China

The business of the company is busy compared to those firms. The company recently celebrated a significant milestone: 100,000 paid trips a week.

This won’t be the Ioniq 5’s first self-driving rodeo. The vehicle also serves as a platform for Motional, which is Hyundai’s robotaxi subsidiary, as well as Avride, which used to be Yandex’s self-driving group.

In contrast to previous vehicle announcements, Waymo is not saying how many Ioniq 5s it plans to buy fromHyundai. Some of this could be caused by the fact that Waymo has grown more cautious about overly optimistic predictions after being panned by critics for setting unrealistic deadlines.

But in public comments submitted to the Commerce Department in April, Waymo representatives insisted that, despite its partnership with the Chinese automaker, China has nothing to do with the vital tech of the Zeekr-made robotaxi. The base vehicles being provided to Waymo have no automated features built into them, the company wrote. The company stated that once operating in the US, the vehicles can not have remote communication with their manufacturer.

With robotaxis, one of the most important metrics is uptime, or the amount of time it’s on the road ferrying passengers. Time spent plugged into a charger is time not making money. The Ioniq 5 is an electric crossover SUV with a little over 300 miles of range and an 800-volt architecture that enhances its charging speed. When plugged into a 350kW fast charger, Hyundai says the Ioniq 5 can charge from 10–80 percent in just 18 minutes, depending on the conditions. Waymo certainly saw those charging speeds as a benefit to its still unprofitable business.

In a statement, Hyundai Motor Company president and global COO José Muñoz called the agreement a “first step” in the two firms’ partnership. “We are actively exploring additional opportunities for collaboration,” he said—opening up the possibility that Waymo self-driving tech could one day be installed on Hyundai passenger vehicles.

The US government argued that Chinese-made auto software could create a long-term national security issue if it were installed on US vehicles. Gina Raimondo, US Commerce Secretary, stated earlier this year that if thousands of Chinese-linked vehicles on American roads were to be disabled by someone in Beijing, it would be a nightmare.

Zeekr is owned by Chinese automaker Geely, though its design center and one of its research and development facilities are in Gothenburg, Sweden. The headquarters of Volvo and Polestar is in the Swedish city.