Through a partnership with Motional, Lyft introduced its first all-electric autonomous vehicles in Las Vegas this week.
Motional and Lyft are planning a fully-driverless service launching in 2023 and scaling to multiple US cities. However, for now it will be possible to hail an all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 autonomous vehicle to travel between popular locations on the Las Vegas Strip. However, unlike the final service next year, operators will still be present in the front seats.
The experience will be a little different from your typical Lyft ride-hailing journey. When the Ioniq 5 pulls up, a swipe on the Lyft app will unlock the doors. Once inside, the vehicle won't move until the rider presses a button indicating they are ready to go.
A touchscreens mounted on the back of each front seat provides passenger details and offers real-time ride information including current location, destination, and expected time of arrival. Below the displays are three keys designed with blind and low-vision riders in mind. One of those buttons calls Lyft customer support if a rider has a question or concern.
Motional is a joint venture between Hyundai and auto supplier Aptiv. The company has already completed over 100,000 autonomous rides across Las Vegas using previous versions of its autonomous vehicles. This roll out to Las Vegas looks to be the final real-world test before Lyft gets much more serious about autonomous rides next year across the US.