Uber joins forces with Nuro & Lucid on robotaxis
Uber plans to equip 20,000 or more Lucid vehicles with the Nuro Driver over six years. The partners say their platform combines the software-defined vehicle architecture of Lucid Gravity with the scalability and performance of Nuro’s Driver Level 4 autonomy system. Needless to say, the technology will leverage Uber’s vast international networks and customer base. The vehicles will be owned or operated by Uber or its third-party fleet partners and will only be available to passengers via the Uber platform.
The robotaxi hardware will be integrated into the Lucid Gravity on Lucid’s assembly line. The electric cars will then have Nuro’s software installed when the vehicle is commissioned by Uber.
“We believe this partnership will demonstrate what’s possible when proven AV technology meets real-world scale,” said Jiajun Zhu, Co-Founder and CEO at Nuro. “Nuro has spent nearly a decade building an AI-first autonomy system that’s safe, scalable, and vehicle-agnostic, proven through five years of driverless deployments across multiple U.S. cities and states.
Uber plans to invest several hundred million US dollars in both Nuro and Lucid. According to Reuters, citing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, $300 million will go to Lucid. Uber says that “the longer 450-mile EPA estimated range of the Lucid Gravity means less frequent downtime for charging, minimising costs and maximising vehicle availability.”
“This investment from Uber further validates Lucid’s fully redundant zonal architecture and highly capable platform as ideal for autonomous vehicles, and our industry-leading range and spacious well-appointed interiors, as ideal for ridesharing,” said Marc Winterhoff, Interim CEO at Lucid. “This is the start of our path to extend our innovation and technology leadership into this multi-trillion-dollar market.”
Although Lucid increased quarterly deliveries again in April, the company’s shares had fallen by about 24% this year. The announcement of the deal with Uber made Lucid shares surge more than 26%.
The three partners say the first Lucid Nuro Robotaxi prototype is already driving autonomously on a closed Nuro test site in Las Vegas. The safety of the vehicles’ autonomous functions will be managed by Nuro, which will lead the development and validation using simulations, closed-course testing and supervised on-road testing.
Autonomous driving functions are being integrated into vehicles internationally, including trucks, buses, port logistics, mining trucks, delivery vehicles and cars, but not without false starts and controversies, most particularly with robotaxis. Although Waymo had to recall 1200 vehicles in May this year, the company has arguably experienced the most successful expansion of its services in the USA. Nuro was co-founded and led by former Waymo engineers. The company expanded from making last-mile delivery vehicles to now providing its self-driving technology for commercial and passenger vehicles.
Uber’s deal with Lucid follows Uber’s robotaxi agreement in April with Volkswagen in April, which will see the German carmaking giant supply its ID.Buzz vans for a commercial service that is planned for Los Angeles next year. Uber recently announced four other collaborations for robotaxis that include May Mobility, Momenta, Pony.ai and WeRide.
Just a couple of days ago, Uber and Baidu announced that they will soon offer robotaxi services outside China and the USA. A newly signed strategic partnership provides for thousands of Baidu’s autonomous vehicles to be made available elsewhere via the Uber app. The first regions to be named are Asia and the Middle East.
Uber says that its operations in 70 countries and an average of 34 million trips per day mean that its platform “has the scale necessary to make the benefits of self-driving vehicles accessible and beneficial to people everywhere.”
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