Waymo’s Missing Tier, Uber and Lyft Keep Rides Moving and Hyundai’s Robotaxi Push

This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discus Waymo’s launch in Austin, Alphabet’s strong commitment to Waymo and Hyundai’s robotaxi ambitions.

On March 5, Waymo launched exclusively on the Uber app in Austin. However, riders cannot guarantee a Waymo vehicle, as there is no dedicated Waymo tier in the app. This lack of certainty could dilute the premium Waymo experience, as users do not know what type of vehicle they will be paired with when ordering a ride.

As Waymo scales its operations globally, Hyundai is emerging as a major player in the robotaxi market. This week, Avride announced a partnership with Hyundai to develop a fully integrated robotaxi, with the first vehicles set to enter service this year in Dallas.

Texas is emerging hub for autonomy for both robotaxis and autonomous trucks. Next month, Aurora will begin commercial driver-out operations from Dallas, followed by Bot Auto in Houston later this year. Autonomy is now becoming a business.

Episode Chapters

• 0:00 Waymo Experience on Uber
• 7:01 Uber’s Autonomous Vehicle Fleet Management Strategy
• 9:29 Lyft’s Flexdrive
• 12:17 Waymo’s Jaguar I-PACE Fleet
• 14:46 Waymo Zeekr Robotaxi
• 16:51 Alphabet’s Commitment to Waymo
• 20:26 Waymo’s Pending Silver Lake / Los Feliz LA Expansion
• 22:02 Autonomy Markets Nicknames
• 23:16 Waymo’s Mysterious San Francisco X Post
• 24:24 Walt’s Waymo Analysis
• 25:46 Avride / Hyundai Robotaxi Partnership
• 29:43 Bot Auto‘s Driver-Out Plans
• 33:54 Wayve Expands to Germany
• 35:56 Unforced Error of The Week
• 38:20 Next Week

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