In July, Lucid, Uber, and Nuro entered into a significant partnership focusing on autonomous vehicles, specifically a robotaxi deal that aims to deploy 20,000 self-driving vehicles in the United States over the next six years. Recently, Lucid delivered its first Gravity SUV to Nuro for retrofitting, marking a preliminary step towards this ambitious goal.
The Gravity SUV was manufactured at Lucid’s facility located in Casa Grande, Arizona, and was later transported to the company’s headquarters in Newark, California. There, Nuro’s team proceeded to install necessary sensors and hardware to enable autonomous driving capabilities. This initial retrofitting process will differ from future procedures, as subsequent vehicles will be modified on Lucid’s assembly line before deployment.
After modifications, the prototype has been moved to Nuro’s facility in Santa Clara, where its engineers are integrating the Nuro Driver software and initiating testing and validation protocols. The companies plan to have their first operational robotaxi integrated into Uber’s ride-hailing network within the next year.
The delivery of this prototype is viewed as a significant milestone in the project; however, numerous challenges remain before a larger number of driverless Lucid Gravity SUVs can be seen on the roads.
The scale of this venture is notable, with commitments for at least 20,000 vehicles, which Nuro executives have indicated could be even higher. This situation brings to mind earlier statements by autonomous vehicle developers who anticipated wide-scale deployment of self-driving cars in a short timeframe, although many companies continue to face challenges in delivering functional self-driving technology at scale.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/transportation/784461/lucid-nuro-uber-robotaxi-first-vehicle-delivery