Autonomous Automotive Company is a partner with Uber in the United States

By Tina Bellon

(Reuters) – Hyundai and Uptive Autonomous Vehicle joint venture Motional announced on Thursday that it will enter the food supply market with Uber in California.

Motional said it will launch a driverless food delivery service with the Uber Eats processor in Santa Monica in early 2022.

+ Motion Partners with Uber to provide autonomous vehicle deliveries in the United States

The companies did not say whether the partnership would be expanded to other locations. But Carl Ignema, president of Motional, said in a statement that the joint venture “has many long-term potential for further use of mobile technology in the Uber operating system.”

The Hyundai IONIQ-5 will be delivered in full electric vehicles and will operate autonomously. A spokesman said there would be a security driver inside the vehicles.

When asked if Uber Eats customers need to walk to their vehicles to get their food, a spokesman said companies will share more details about the service before it starts.

Motional has been running a robot taxi pilot project in Las Vegas with Uber rival Lyft for the past three years. In November, Motion & Lift announced the launch of a completely driverless shuttle service in Las Vegas in 2023.