Las Vegas has long been known as the city that never sleeps, and now Motional’s self-driving robotaxis will be able to keep up with the partygoers as the company extends its service to operate at night. The move was confirmed in a recent blog post on the Motional website, signaling the company’s commitment to expanding its autonomous ride-hailing service in one of the most vibrant cities in the world.
Since partnering with Lyft in September and Uber in December, Motional has been steadily gaining momentum in the Las Vegas market, with its Hyundai IONIQ 5-based vehicles becoming a common sight around the Vegas Strip. However, until now, all rides with both ride-hail companies had been confined to daytime hours.
See also: Uber, Motional launch autonomous Ioniq 5 robotaxi powered by Motional in Las Vegas
Motional’s vice president of commercialization, Akshay Jaising, explained that the company’s decision to extend its service was driven by rider demand, with Vegas coming alive at night. “We’re happy we can now spend more hours every day introducing passengers to our technology and helping them travel safely and comfortably where they need to go,” he said.
As the company prepares for full autonomy later this year, Motional has also introduced a couple of new features to enhance the robotaxi experience for riders. The first is a Remote Vehicle Assistance system that will train the robotaxis how to navigate around obstacles and unexpected road scenarios using machine learning principles. The second is an app feature that enables passengers to interact with the robotaxi, unlocking doors and adjusting the climate control system to their preferred temperature.
See also: Uber will offer rides in Ioniq 5-based autonomous robo taxis powered by Motional
Motional’s vehicles employ a sophisticated sensor suite with over 30 cameras, radars, and lidars, offering full 360-degree perception and 300-meter range detection. While the robotaxis still use a human safety operator in Vegas, the company has recorded over two million autonomous miles and conducted over 125,000 public rides without an ‘at-fault’ accident.
With the extension of its service to nighttime hours, Motional is demonstrating its commitment to gradually introducing changes while prioritizing safety, as it moves towards a fully driverless service. As the company continues to gain ground in the Las Vegas market, it remains to be seen what other innovations it will bring to the autonomous ride-hailing industry in the future.
