By Michael Elkins
Motional, a global driverless technology company, and Uber (NYSE:UBER) announced today that they have entered into a commercial agreement to offer fully driverless rides using Motional's new all-electric IONIQ 5-based robotaxis.
Earlier this year, Motional began conducting autonomous food deliveries for Uber Eats customers in California. The pilot has been well received by customers and Motional and Uber have since expanded their delivery operations to service more restaurants. The new 10-year agreement positions Motional to become the first AV company to offer both delivery and ride-hail services and creates the opportunity for effective broad adoption of AVs by pairing Motional's advanced driverless technology with Uber's network of millions of customers.
"This agreement will be instrumental to the wide scale adoption of robotaxis," said Karl Iagnemma, President and CEO of Motional. "Motional now has unparalleled access to millions of riders and a roadmap to scale significantly over the next ten years. We're proud to partner with Uber to bring both driverless ride-hail and deliveries to life in cities throughout the U.S."
As part of the commercial partnership, Uber will share targeted insights to efficiently allocate and position Motional's vehicles.
"We're excited to leverage the power of Uber's platform to bring Motional's advanced autonomous technology to a wide range of riders at the push of a button," said Noah Zych, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility and Delivery at Uber. "The scope of this partnership shows the important role that shared autonomous vehicles will play in the future of transportation, and in Uber's strategy to be the global platform to help you go anywhere and get anything."