At the end of last year, it looked like Uber’s self-driving cars were done for good when autonomous vehicle tech startup Aurora took over its robocars unit as part of a $400 million deal. But now Aurora is reviving a driverless ride-hailing service.
Aurora announced Tuesday that by the end of this year it’ll design, build, and start testing a fleet of self-driving Toyota Sienna minivans. The cars will be equipped with the Aurora Driver autonomous system through another partnership with automotive parts supplier Denso. While Aurora has previously tested on Chrysler Pacifica minivans, this will be the first fleet of autonomous Siennas.
Look out for more self-driving minivans.
Image: aurora
The Aurora Driver allows the car to detect what’s going on around — and in — the car with computers, sensors, radar, LiDAR, cameras, and more. Aurora has been focused on developing self-driving trucks more recently, but with the Uber partnership it has expanded its sights to ride-sharing.
After the self-driving Siennas are tested and ready, Aurora says the plan is to launch a fleet that will work with ride-hailing networks, including Uber’s. It’ll be a few more years before reaching everyday Uber users though.
Once Aurora and Toyota launch the fleet, self-driving Uber cars will once again be on the road, albeit in a different form than before. In 2018, Uber paused its autonomous car program after a woman was killed in Tempe, Arizona, when an autonomous Uber struck her. The Uber safety driver was looking at her phone before the fatal crash.