Avride, a self-driving technology startup, and Hyundai Motor Co. have joined forces to broaden Avride’s robotaxi fleet, according to a joint announcement made on Wednesday. This strategic partnership involves jointly developing and running self-driving vehicles.
This year, the Texas-based Avride plans to increase its fleet to 100 Hyundai IONIQ 5 cars, with further expansion planned for 2026. The company aims to broaden its operational scope into new regions while improving its self-driving systems.
Avride joins a growing number of self-driving technology companies that are expanding their robotaxi fleets, pushing into new markets, and forming alliances with ride-hailing services. Tesla, under the leadership of Elon Musk, is also preparing the launch of its autonomous ride-hailing service in California and Texas this year. Concurrently, Alphabet’s Waymo began its robotaxi services exclusively on Uber’s platform in Austin, Texas.
As part of the expansion, Avride’s latest IONIQ 5 vehicles will be integrated into its robotaxi services, which are exclusively available on Uber in Dallas, Texas. These vehicles will be manufactured at Hyundai’s Metaplant facility located in Georgia and then equipped with Avride’s self-driving technology suite.
The agreement also includes potential collaboration on autonomous delivery services, leveraging Avride’s robots. The focus for the partners is on the joint development of a robotaxi fleet.
Avride was previously a division of the Russian company Yandex. However, it separated from the parent company last year as a result of corporate restructuring. Earlier, in 2019, the Russian firm partnered with Hyundai’s automotive supply unit to develop software and hardware for self-driving cars. Avride’s team has past experience utilizing Hyundai Motor vehicles such as the Sonata and IONIQ 5 models as platforms for its autonomous technology.
