Short dive:
- Ride-hail providers Uber and Lyft are increasingly delving into the realm of autonomous vehicles. Company leaders described new partnerships with technology and robotaxi companies at recent investor events.
- Lyft will add AVs to its platform in Atlanta through a partnership with May Mobility. The company also announced partnerships with advanced autonomous driving assistance company Mobileye, along with Nexar, whose dashboard cameras provide video recordings that can contribute to better data for AV research.
- Uber customers will be able to select a Cruise robotaxi starting next year, and the company is expanding its partnership with Waymo to Austin, Texas, and Atlanta. Uber has 14 different AV partnerships, many of which it plans to expand both in the United States and globally, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said during the company’s Oct. 31 earnings call. The CEO added that “you will see expansions with many of our other standalone partners in domestic and international markets on the AV side.”
Diving information:
Perhaps spurred by the debut of Tesla’s robotaxis on October 10 and CEO Elon Musk’s promise to begin driverless testing of some of his vehicles as robotaxis in California and Texas next year, the leaders of Uber and Lyft have focused on their AV strategies at recent investor events.
Khosrowshahi said on the earnings call that Uber’s experience with Waymo is “absolutely fantastic,” but that the true test of their partnership will come when they expand operations to Austin and Atlanta. “In those markets you will find hundreds of Waymos,” he said.
Uber’s CEO expects to see a growing ecosystem of autonomous partners and increased deployment of robotaxis on the Uber network outside the United States next year. “Stay tuned, you’ll see more launches coming,” he said.
Lyft CEO David Risher said at the company’s Nov. 6 earnings call that it has provided about 130,000 autonomous rides so far, mostly in Las Vegas, where Lyft partners with Motional. He added that the company is watching the San Francisco market “pretty closely.” Waymo operates driverless robotaxis in San Francisco, while Zoox is testing its vehicles there and Cruise seeks to return after suspending its California permit in 2023.
Risher sees AVs as a way to bring additional supplies of ride-hailing vehicles to each market while complementing human-driven vehicles. “At Lyft we envision a robust future that brings together human drivers and autonomous vehicles in an always-on transportation network,” he said.
Robotaxis will face multiple regulatory agendas at the federal, state and city levels, Lyft Chief Financial Officer Erin Brewer said, speaking with RBC Capital Internet stocks analyst Brad Erickson on a Nov. 19 conference call. “It is rational to think that all of these players will absolutely have a say as we think about broader adoption, safety profiles and regulatory constraints within those jurisdictions going forward,” Brewer said.
Brewer, Risher and Khosrowshahi all noted that robotaxi rides are priced at a premium compared to their more popular options like Uber X. “It’s a really tailored experience right now,” Risher said.