Waymo’s Zeekr-based platform for their 6th generation robotaxi is quite unlike the Hyunai Ioniq 5
WaymoReuters reported rumors from the South Korean Electronic Times that Waymo was in discussion with Hyundai Motor Group over the potential use of an Ioniq 5 based vehicle as an alternate platform for their 6th generation Waymo driver which is based today on a Zeekr vehicle from China. Zeekr stated there is no change to their relationship with Waymo, and Hyundai declined to comment.
At the same time, Motional, the robotaxi company now primarily owned by Hyundai, announced that its founder CEO Karl Iagnemma will become a strategy advisor and be replaced by CTO Laura Major who will be interim CEO. The events are probably unrelated.
Waymo might well be shopping for other platforms for their next robotaxi because of the threat of a 100% tariff on the import of Chinese EVs announced by the Biden administration, which may be continued by either of the potential incoming administrations. While Waymo has been pleased with their partnership with Zeekr and the design of their vehicle, it would be hard to deal with a 100% tariff. There is some potential that the tariff might not apply to Waymo, which receives the cars in an unfinished state and sends them to Magna (a Canadian contract manufacturer operating in Michigan) to turn them into robotaxis, and they are not sold to consumers.
The Ioniq 5 is a nice ride, but much more crossover-like than the Zeekr.
Getty ImagesOn the other hand, the Ioniq 5 would be an unusual choice. While Hyundai is a highly capable manufacturer, the Ioniq is an electric SUV. Waymo’s Zeekr has large sliding doors on both sides, creating a wide opening into a very spacious and spartan interior design, aimed much more at riding than driving. It’s halfway to the fully custom robotaxi designs found in the Zoox and Cruise Origin. The Zeekr will offer a fairly different rider experience than the Ioniq. If Waymo suffers a 100% tariff, they will probably look for a new platform vehicle, but probably one that’s a bit more different and taxi-like than the Ioniq. They could easily consider a different vehicle from Korea, however. Waymo is monitoring the tariff situation but has not made any decision, they say.
The loss of Iagnemma signals more trouble for Motional. Motional began as nuTonomy, a startup originating both at MIT and in Singapore. This was acquired and changed to become Motional, primarily funded by Aptiv and Hyundai. Earlier, Aptive announced it wished to stop participating and sell its stake to Hyundai. Motional was probably in 4th place of the 4 remaining working US robotaxi projects, namely Waymo, Cruise, Zoox and Motional. Cruise is on “pause” due to last year’s San Francisco dragging incident, and Zoox is planning to have its first real deployment this year in Las Vegas. Motional has yet to deploy with no safety driver, but has done small pilots partnering with ride-hail partners using safety drivers. (Aurora has paused its passenger vehicle programs, and Nuro only last week announced plans to move into providing robotaxi systems to as yet unnamed customers.) Tesla is not yet close to a robotaxi, but plans to announce something October 10. MobilEye tested robotaxis but declared it would not operate them.
Motional has been using the Ioniq 5 as their test vehicle, and there’s no reason that both Waymo and Motional could not both use it. In addition, Waymo might contract with Hyundai or any other non-Chinese manufacturer for a vehicle more suited to its needs, and if Hyundai made it, they could also use it with Motional.
Motional has been using the Ioniq 5 for their robotaxi tests.
Los Angeles Times via Getty ImagesNot too many years ago, every automaker wanted to have an active robotaxi unit in-house. That’s very much changed and the industry has consolidated. Even so, it’s still in the “startup” phase, and that’s a time when founder leadership remains important. Cruise’s founders resigned last year after the dragging incident. Zoox’s first founder was forced out several years ago, but its technical founder continues as CTO. Waymo’s co-CEO is from the original team, and Waymo’s real founder, Larry Page, remains with half control (with Sergey Brin) of Alphabet and thus Waymo, though his influence is today quite distant. Aurora, Nuro and Tesla remain founder controlled, in fact Tesla may be a little too founder-controlled.
While it’s recently been a hot topic in Silicon Valley, the value of founder-leadership in startups, particularly disruptive ones, has long been greatly appreciated there. While Motional and Cruise are both owned by automakers, they began as startups and held their founders for a long period. No pure automaker project—except perhaps Tesla—is still standing as a major robotaxi contender.
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{URL}https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradtempleton/2024/09/23/waymo-rumoured-in-talks-with-hyundai-while-motional-ceo-leaves/{/URL}
{Author}Brad Templeton, Senior Contributor{/Author}
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