I think these are two companies in very strong positions:<p>- Hyundai/Genesis has some of the best cars on the market right now between the GV line and Ionic lines, and they seem to be improving faster than other manufacturers<p>- Waymo is now the clear leader in self-driving in my mind after visiting SF recently and opting for Waymo driver over human driver 60% of the time.<p>I have a Mercedes on a short lease now but my hope/expectation is that in 3 years Hyundai will be making my ideal car since the GV80 is so close, but I’d like to see an electric-first design from them in the space.<p>I wish the Waymo deal meant I could buy a Waymo-equipped Hyundai myself though :-(
I think self-driving technology is really cool, and I hope it reaches high-reliability as soon as possible.<p>But I would rather it is distributed in personally-owned cars than in fleet models. Would be a shame if the only access is through effectively "renting" rides from big corporations. Rooting for Comma and Tesla to get there and put it in vehicles which individuals own. Don't want some corporation to control mobility--their use policy could be restrictive to individual freedoms.
I think this is a vehicle diversification/hedge workaround for their initially planned Zeekr vehicle (<a href="https://waymo.com/blog/2021/12/expanding-our-waymo-one-fleet-with/" rel="nofollow">https://waymo.com/blog/2021/12/expanding-our-waymo-one-fleet...</a>) being subject to 100% tariffs.
I very much look forward to owning a car with the Waymo stack. Hope this comes sooner than later! Just don’t want it to be a Hyundai, but this feature would cause me to overlook everything else about the car.
This is an interesting move given Hyundai's position in funding Motional, who didn't seem totally incapable of creating AV tech. Does anyone know what their future looks like after this partnership?
I will never consider buying a Hyundai for several decades after their inexcusable security practices led to my insurer jacking up my insurance rates just for owning a Hyundai, despite being an earlier model.