Ford’s self-driving cars to be available in 2 US cities

Lyft customers in Miami will be able to hail a robotaxi from Argo AI, an AV startup backed by Ford and Volkswagen, by the end of the year, Report informs, citing The Verge.

Next year, riders in Austin, Texas, will be able to do the same. It’s the latest move to make more autonomous vehicles available for public use after initial predictions about the wide-scale availability of AVs failed to materialize.

For years, Ford promised that it would launch a full-scale autonomous vehicle business, including robotaxis and driverless delivery, by 2021. That later got pushed to 2022, with the automaker citing delays due to the coronavirus pandemic. It also said it would use a purpose-built autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals to power its commercial ambitions, which it has yet to reveal.

The deal with Lyft is the first sign that Ford is still trying to make good on its initial promises. It will be the first time that Ford or Argo have invited members of the general public to go for a ride in their autonomous vehicles.

The fleet size will be “modest” at first, with “less than 100 vehicles” collectively across both cities by next year, an Argo spokesperson said. But the company says it is “laying the groundwork” for the deployment of 1,000 autonomous vehicles across multiple markets over the next five years.

By the end of the year, Argo’s autonomous vehicles will be available on the Lyft platform in Miami, where Argo has been testing its technology for the last several years. If Lyft customers are within a defined geographic area, they will be offered the choice to ride in an autonomous vehicle to their destination. Those vehicles will still include two safety drivers in the driver and front passenger seats.

The companies have signed a “network access agreement” that will give Lyft a 2.5 percent equity stake in Argo in exchange for the ride-hailing company’s data on the self-driving trips. Ford, Argo, and Lyft say they will use the data generated from Miami and Austin to figure out how to grow a full-scale robotaxi business.