Waymo Looking to Buy 50,000 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Robotaxis for $2.5 Billion

Waymo is scaling up. How much, and how quickly? Those are the questions. We may have a hint at an answer. Reportedly, the self-driving tech leader is looking to purchase 50,000 Hyundai IONIQ 5 electric cars in the next few years, at a cost of about $2.5 billion.

The IONIQ 5 EVs reportedly would not come equipped with the various lidar, radar, and other sensors Waymo uses. The cost of the vehicles would reportedly cost over $50,000 each initially, before the sensory suite is added. Though, I don’t see how that makes sense. No version of the IONIQ 5 costs close to $50,000 even for normal retail consumers. So, at a cost of $50,000+, Hyundai must be adding something — quite a lot — to the vehicles. Perhaps the original reporting is wrong and the vehicles would come with the various sensors included.

As far as we know, the the contract has not been confirmed. However, if details have leaked out, one would think that a final decision and an announcement are coming.

Waymo and Hyundai have been in discussion about this deal since 2024. The California company initially bought Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicles for its robotaxi operations, and more recently has made a deal with Zeekr to use its custom-designed Ojai vehicles. All of these models are electric vehicles, of course.

We’ve been waiting for these Hyundai–Waymo robotaxis for a long time. Are we finally on the verge of getting them?