Motional, Hyundai Motor Company and Lyft have teamed up to launch a self-driving taxi service based on Hyundai Ioniq 5 EVs in Los Angeles, USA later this month.
The cars will hit the roads in test mode. To speed up the development of the tech, Motional has moved into new spacious Santa Monica HQ. The company plans on doubling its staff until the end of 2021 and intensify the research of self-driving tech considerably.
Motional autonomous cars are already running on the streets of Las Vegas, Pittsburg, Boston, and Singapore. It has branch offices on both U.S. coasts, in Asia, and near the Silicon Valley, enabling it to source the best professionals from various locations.
It remains unspecified whether the driverless Ioniq 5 fleet will cruise public roads or just dedicated/closed test circuits. It is also uncertain whether an operator will be present inside at all times.
In other recent news, Xiaomi and Great Wall (China) began working on their own self-driving car that they intend to sell on the domestic market and beyond. The investment has already exceeded $1.5 billion.