Otodiva.id – Waymo, Alphabet subsidiary, teamed up with Hyundai to make the Ioniq 5 as their newest fleet of autonomous taxis. Waymo and Hyundai plan to make the Ioniq 5 as a robot taxi, however, this process requires testing Waymo's autonomous technology first.
The testing is scheduled to begin in 2025. However, There is no certainty when Ioniq will be available 5 will begin serving passengers as part of Waymo's autonomous taxi fleet.
Ioniq 5 which will be part of Waymo's fleet are manufactured at Hyundai's Metaplant plant in Georgia, AS. This factory, which was built with USD investment 7,6 billion, is scheduled to be completed in the near future and will produce electric cars with Waymo technology in large quantities.
One of the reasons Waymo chose Ioniq 5 is its fast battery charging capability. By charging using a charger 350 kW, Ioniq 5 it just takes time 18 minutes to charge the battery from 10% until 80%.
This fast battery charging capability is considered an advantage for Waymo, which is currently still struggling to achieve profitability in its autonomous taxi business.
Waymo currently operates hundreds of Jaguar I-Pace cars as their main robot taxi fleet after replacing the Chrysler Pacifica. Plans to use the Geely Zeekr car have been hampered by new import regulations from the United States government.
Although the Ioniq 5 it is not planned to replace existing car platforms, This vehicle will help Waymo increase their operational scale and future growth opportunities.
Christopher Bonelli, Waymo spokesperson, stated that the addition of Ioniq 5 to their fleet will help expand Waymo's autonomous taxi business without sidelining existing cars.
