Self-driving cars: Uber plans 20,000 robotaxis

Ride-hailing company Uber wants to become a robotaxi provider – and thus compete with drivers on the platform itself. Over the next six years, at least 20,000 self-driving vehicles based on SUVs from electric car manufacturer Lucid are to be introduced in various countries. The vehicles will belong to Uber or the online service's fleet partners.

Uber has previously demonstrated its ambition to become the leading platform for robotaxis from various developers. Self-driving cars from Google's sister company Waymo are already available for booking via the Uber app in some US cities. Robotaxis from Volkswagen are also planned to be added to the platform. Just this week, Uber also announced that it will begin brokering self-driving cars from the Chinese company Baidu outside the US.

The SUV model, called Gravity, is the second vehicle from Tesla challenger Lucid, which has sold low numbers so far. However, the company emphasizes that, with financing from Saudi Arabia's state investment fund as a major shareholder, it has the staying power. The vehicles will be autonomous using technology from the American robot car developer Nuro. Lucid is receiving $ 300 million from Uber, among other things, for capacity to install the equipment.

The ride-hailing company was once working on its own technology for autonomous cars. But after a fatal accident during an evening test drive, Uber threw in the towel. It is the only known fatality in the operation of self-driving cars to date.

Meanwhile, in the Texas city of Austin, the robotaxi rivalry between Waymo and Tesla is gaining momentum. The electric car manufacturer, led by Elon Musk, launched its first small-scale robotaxi service there a few weeks ago, with human drivers as supervisors in the passenger seat. This week, Tesla announced an expansion of the area where the company's robotaxis are available.

In keeping with the Tesla CEO's often juvenile sense of humor, the Tesla robotaxis' operating area is penis-shaped. Waymo, which many experts consider to be at the forefront of autonomous driving technology, has now expanded its own operating area far beyond Tesla's operating area.