Uber to take on Waymo in San Francisco with Lucid, Nuro robotaxis

By Natalie Lung, Bloomberg

Uber Technologies Inc. is preparing to offer driverless rides on vehicles developed by Lucid Group Inc. and Nuro Inc. in the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time next year, thrusting the company into direct competition with Waymo’s robotaxi service.

Road testing of the vehicles — Lucid Gravity SUVs outfitted with Nuro’s self-driving technology — is currently underway with drivers manually operating them, a Nuro spokesperson said. The first cars in the test fleet were delivered in September, and the number will grow to more than a hundred in the coming months, according to an Uber statement.

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The cars that are eventually used for public ride-hailing will be separate from this test fleet, according to an Uber spokesperson, who said more details on the operation and the customer experience will be provided closer to the launch next year.

The move is a step toward Uber challenging Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo, whose driverless taxis have become ubiquitous in San Francisco. The two companies currently work together to provide Waymo rides on the Uber app in Austin, Atlanta and Phoenix, but Waymo offers its own service in major urban markets like San Francisco and Los Angeles. Next year, Waymo will expand its service to Miami, London and Washington.

Uber, meanwhile, has struck more than a dozen deals with robotaxi developers in the past year — a bet on a future where autonomous vehicles and human drivers complement each other on its platform. That push has included investing hundreds of millions of dollars in both Lucid and Nuro.

It announced on Tuesday that it is setting a goal to eventually have a fleet of 100,000 autonomous vehicles powered by Nvidia Corp. technology, with the expansion starting in 2027. That includes 20,000 Lucid-Nuro robotaxis it committed in July to purchase and operate with its partners in San Francisco and other markets over six years.

Uber will have some catching up to do in San Francisco, the city where it’s based. Waymo has worked to expand its service beyond the city into the South Bay area in the past year. It has also secured permissions to offer its services at the San Francisco and San Jose airports — transit hubs that are a major source of business for any ride-hailing service.

Nuro currently has driverless testing and deployment permits in parts of the South Bay, according to the website of the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles. But it doesn’t yet have the necessary permits to be able to operate the Lucid vehicles without a driver in San Francisco. It also lacks permission from the California Public Utilities Commission to carry passengers.

The Nuro spokesperson said the company and its partners will obtain all required permits as the testing progresses, similar to its prior deployments.

Uber said in its statement that the company has been updating policymakers and regulators at the local, state and federal levels on its progress and continues to meet their requirements for operation.

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