INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Toyota and Uber are partnering to bring an on-demand autonomous ride-hailing service to market, a deal that includes a $500 million
investment from the Japanese automaker.
Under the agreement, Toyota Sienna minivans will be equipped with Uber self-driving technology and
then deployed on the ride-hailing company network, the companies said.
The deal, which was firstreported by the WSJand later confirmed with
new details by TechCrunch, is unusual because a third—and yet unnamed fleet operator—would own and operate the mass-producedautonomous
vehicles.Pilot-scale deployments will begin on the Uber ride-sharing network in 2021, the companies said.
It a first of its kind deal for
Uber, CEODara Khosrowshahi noted in a statement released Monday afternoon.It also one that should help further improve Uber image as a
reckless do-now-ask-for-forgiveness startup, particularly in thewake of the fatal self-driving vehicle accident in March.
Uber advanced
technology and Toyota commitment to safety and its renowned manufacturing prowess make this partnership a natural fit,&Khosrowshahi
&I look forward to seeing what our teams accomplish together.
The companies are calling this a&Autono-MaaS& fleet, a jargon term meant to
mean autonomous-mobility as a service.
Toyota (and its research arm the Toyota Research Institute) has a different deployment strategy for
autonomous vehicles than its competitors
The company has previously said it plans to take a dualapproach to autonomy that it calls &Guardian& and &Chauffeur,& both of which use the
same technology stack.
Toyota idea is todevelop fully autonomous cars to serve an aging population and the disabled as well as work on
technology for regular production cars that could switch between assisted and full autonomy
This &guardian& technology wouldoperate silently in the background.
TRIdebuted its first-generation autonomous vehicle in March 2017
Its Platform 2.1 vehicle, revealed just a few months later, features light ranging and detection radar developed by Silicon Valley startup
Luminar.
Under this new agreement,Uber autonomous driving system and the Toyota &guardian& automated safety support system would both be
integrated into these Autono-MaaS vehicles.
Toyota will also use its core information infrastructure for connected vehicles—something is
calls a mobility services platform, or MSPF.
Uber automated driving system and Toyota guardian system will independently monitor the vehicle
environment and real-time situation, enhancing overall vehicle safety for both the automated driver and the vehicle,& said Dr
Gill Pratt, Toyota Research Institute CEO.
Toyota already had a relationship with Uber, albeit not as close as it will under this new
Toyota announced at CES in January that it is working withAmazon, ride-hailing companies Uber and Didi, automaker Mazda and Pizza Hut to
develop an electric autonomous shuttle that can be used to deliver people or packages
The business alliances were created tofocus on the development of the new e-Palette Concept Vehicle in the near term.
