Avride and Hyundai Motor Company have announced a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop and operate vehicles capable of fully autonomous driving. The collaboration will focus on leveraging Hyundai Motor’s cutting-edge electric vehicle (EV) platform technology with its IONIQ 5 and Avride’s autonomous driving technology to pave the way for future mobility solutions, such as robotaxis and autonomous delivery services.
Avride’s team has extensive experience working with Hyundai Motor vehicles as platforms for autonomous vehicles (AV), including the Sonata and IONIQ 5. This partnership will expand on this capability, with Hyundai Motor serving as a key technology partner. The companies will focus on enabling the deployment of autonomous vehicles equipped with Avride’s driving system.
The partnership also includes a significant expansion of Avride’s IONIQ 5-based fleet, with the first vehicles expected to be deployed in the coming months. The IONIQ 5 vehicles destined for the Avride fleet will be assembled at the new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) manufacturing facility in Georgia and then integrated with Avride’s autonomous technology. These vehicles will be first available later this year in Dallas as part of Avride’s robotaxi services exclusively on Uber.
“Our team has been working with Hyundai Motor Group since 2019, and we value the professionalism and collaboration that have defined this partnership,” said Dmitry Polishchuk, CEO of Avride. “This new agreement with Hyundai Motor Company will help us scale our operations significantly, with plans to expand our fleet to up to 100 autonomous IONIQ 5’s in 2025, leveraging Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ 5 and our autonomous driving technology.”
Chang Song, President and Head of Hyundai Motor Group Advanced Vehicle Platform (AVP) Division, added: “Hyundai Motor Company is actively advancing its autonomous vehicle foundry business in pursuit of pioneering vehicles most suitable for Level 4 autonomous driving. We are expanding our collaboration with leading autonomous driving tech companies like Avride, fostering an environment where their innovations can actively participate in our endeavor to shape the future of mobility.”
As part of the agreement, Avride and Hyundai Motor will focus on developing a fleet of autonomous vehicles for robotaxi applications. Additionally, the two companies will explore further areas of collaboration, including autonomous delivery services using Avride’s robots, with a shared commitment to advancing the future of smart transportation.
