Lyft has teamed up with Motional to launch an autonomous ride-hailing service in Las Vegas on its app from 2023.
The deployment of Motional’s all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5-based robotaxis is expected to introduce millions of riders to autonomous vehicle (AV) technology.
The vehicle was developed to safely operate without a driver. It comes with more than 30 sensors, a combination of Lidar, radar and cameras, to give a 360-degree vision as well as redundant coverage needed for operating safely in a range of driving environments.
The AVs also received a further technology boost earlier this year. Ambarella's CVflow family of artificial intelligence processors started working with Motional's Lidar, camera and radar sensors to enable the vehicles' safe operation in challenging road conditions.
Motional CEO Karl Iagnemma says: “Motional and Lyft pioneered collaboration between the ride-hail and driverless industries, and are now laying the foundation for large-scale deployments of driverless robotaxis. We look forward to beginning this next chapter in Las Vegas, and then quickly scaling to other markets across the Lyft network.”
An initial deployment will see the robotaxis transport passengers during the second half of 2022, allowing the partners to gain feedback and refine the service.
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