Stellantis has recently announced that it will be working alongside Nvidia, Foxconn, and Uber to launch its own robotaxi service. In Reuters’ report, this is because the companies involved wish to tap into the “booming demand” for self-driving cars.
As per the report, the collaboration will leverage Stellantis’ automobile manufacturing capability, Nvidia’s AI and autonomous driving software, Foxconn’s electronics, and Uber’s ride-hailing platform. According to Stellantis’s press release, the company claims that its vehicle platforms are “AV-Ready” (autonomous vehicles), including its K0 Medium Size Van and STLA Small. The press release continues to say that these platforms are designed for maximum flexibility and can be built to accommodate multiple passengers.
Circling back to the AI, the autonomous driving technology will be powered by Nvidia Drive AGX Hyperion 10 architecture. This will also include Nvidia’s DriveOS and full-stack Nvidia Drive AV software (NDAS).
As for Foxconn, the press release never specified what exactly the company will be in charge of, save for collaborating with “Stellantis on hardware and systems integration”. Perhaps we will see more of what that entails in the future.
Uber will then be in charge of handling the service, as well as expanding its fleet globally. The ride-hailing company will first deploy 5,000 AVs in the US, and is expected to ramp up from there over the coming years. Stellantis says that the company will start producing these vehicles sometime in 2028.
It is worth noting that the automaker company did not give any detail about specific cities or deadlines. With that in mind, we do not know when exactly these robotaxis will make their way to Asia, doubly so when it comes to Malaysia. However, much like Foxconn’s involvement in the deal, we’ll likely hear about this project as time goes on.
On a related note, The Verge pointed out that these kinds of announcements typically highlight the “collaborative” aspect of the partnership when, in actuality, they are just supplier deals behind the scenes. The publication noted that Nvidia is supplying its tech to various companies, including General Motors and Lucid. On the other hand, Uber has expressed its desire to have as many different robotaxi brands on its platform, which includes Waymo and Volkswagen. While Stellantis is working on Level 3 partial autonomy for its various car brands like Jeep. And that is not mentioning that the company has already partnered up with Pony.ai “to advance robotaxi development in Europe”.
(Source: Stellantis, Reuters, The Verge)
