Waymo has started testing Hyundai Ioniq 5s equipped with its sixth-generation autonomous driving technology in San Francisco. In 2024 the companies announced a “strategic partnership” and declared that deploying self-driving Ioniq 5s would be the first step of the partnership. The cars are built at Hyundai’s new ‘Metaplant’ in Georgia and outfitted with Waymo’s driverless hardware and software, including 13 cameras, four lidar sensors, 6 radars and an array of microphones.

Waymo started out with autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans before phasing those out in favor of the electric Jaguar I-Pace. Now Waymo is getting ready to introduce its next slate of vehicles after Jaguar discontinued the I-Pace, forcing Waymo to look for a suitable alternative.

Inside EVs reports that Waymo is planning to introduce a custom-built shuttle from Zeekr, a Chinese manufacturer. It’s already been testing those around the country. As Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana explained on the New York Times’s Hard Fork podcast, the company envisions having a wide variety of different form factors for different use cases, including the Zeekr, Ioniq 5 and whatever comes next. 

“In the future state, we’re going to have tiers of products available,” she said. “There’s going to be people who want the date night experience. That’s going to be different than the people who have the soccer team experience. And so we are thinking about these as product offerings over time.”

In Europe, she noted, Waymo will need a “small vehicle form factor.”

(Picture: Hyundai)