Uber and Toyota have agreed to expand their collaboration to bring autonomous ridesharing to the mass market. This also goes with a US$500m investment in Uber by Toyota.
Image: Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO, and Shigeki Tomoyama, Toyota executive vice president
The partnership means that the two companies will jointly work on AV technology that will be integrated into Toyota vehicles running on Uber’s ridesharing network. Pilot deployments are planned for 2021.
Initially, the test vehicles will be converted Toyota Sienna mini-vans running Uber’s Autonomous Driving System; the Toyota Guardian system (Toyota’s suite of driver aids AEB, collision avoidance system, fatigue warning, etc); and the Mobility Services Platform (MSPF), Toyota’s core information infrastructure for connected vehicles.
“This agreement and investment mark an important milestone in our transformation to a mobility company as we help provide a path for safe and secure expansion of mobility services such as ride-sharing that includes Toyota vehicles and technologies,” said Toyota executive vice president Shigeki Tomoyama.
By Illya Verpraet
