Hyundai is reportedly looking to supply Waymo with 50,000 IONIQ 5 for robotaxis

Hyundai Motor is reportedly looking to supply Waymo with 50,000 IONIQ 5 autonomous vehicles by 2028 in what would amount to a roughly $2.5 billion deal, and if it goes through, it would be a massive signal that the robotaxi industry is entering a new phase of real, industrial-scale deployment.

The potential order, first reported by Gasgoo, would see Hyundai’s Georgia-based Metaplant America (HMGMA) factory produce IONIQ 5 EVs at volume specifically for Waymo’s expanding autonomous fleet. At an estimated price of around $50,000 per vehicle, the contract would represent one of the single largest vehicle supply deals in autonomous driving history.

The partnership has been building for over a year

This isn’t coming out of nowhere. Back in October 2024, Hyundai and Waymo announced a multi-year strategic partnership to integrate Waymo’s sixth-generation autonomous driving technology, the Waymo Driver, into Hyundai’s IONIQ 5. At the time, Hyundai Motor’s North American CEO, Jose Munoz, said the team at HMGMA was “ready to allocate a significant number of vehicles for the Waymo fleet.”

We now know what “significant” might actually look like: 50,000 vehicles.

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The IONIQ 5 is a strong choice for a robotaxi platform. It sits on Hyundai’s E-GMP architecture with 800-volt charging capability, meaning it can go from 10% to 80% in roughly 18 minutes, a critical advantage when you’re running a commercial fleet that needs to minimize downtime. The 3,000mm wheelbase also provides a roomy cabin for passengers, which matters when no one’s sitting up front.

Waymo’s fleet needs are exploding

To understand why a 50,000-vehicle order makes sense, you have to look at where Waymo is right now — and where it’s going.

The company just closed a $16 billion funding round at a $126 billion valuation, the largest investment ever in an autonomous vehicle company. It plans to use that capital to expand to over 20 new cities this year, including its first international markets in Tokyo and London.

Waymo is currently delivering more than 400,000 autonomous paid rides per week.

But here’s the thing: Waymo’s current fleet is only about 2,500 vehicles, primarily the aging Jaguar I-PACE. The company has been working to more than double its I-PACE fleet, but Jaguar has stopped producing the I-PACE, making it a dead-end platform. Waymo needs new vehicle partners, badly.

That’s where both the Zeekr-built “Ojai” purpose-built robotaxi van and the Hyundai IONIQ 5 come in. The two vehicles will coexist in Waymo’s fleet alongside the remaining I-PACEs, but the IONIQ 5 could become the volume backbone of the operation if this 50,000-unit deal materializes.

Waymo is locking in the auto industry while Tesla talks

What’s striking is how Waymo has been quietly building a web of partnerships with the world’s biggest automakers. In April 2025, Waymo and Toyota announced a partnership to explore bringing the Waymo Driver to personally owned vehicles, going directly after Tesla’s consumer self-driving ambitions. That came on top of the Hyundai fleet deal and the Zeekr manufacturing relationship.

Meanwhile, automakers keep choosing Waymo over Tesla. Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, publicly shut down talks with Tesla about licensing Full Self-Driving, saying flatly that Waymo’s approach “made more sense.” Even Tesla’s own head of self-driving, Ashok Elluswamy, admitted the company was “lagging a couple years” behind Waymo.

A 50,000-vehicle supply deal with Hyundai would further cement Waymo’s position as the company that the traditional auto industry trusts to lead the autonomous transition.

Electrek’s Take

The loudest and most persistent argument from the Tesla camp against Waymo has always been simple: “Sure, it works, but it can’t scale.”

That narrative should now be considered officially dead.

Waymo had a massive expansion in 2025 and it is right now setting the stage for an even bigger one in 2026 and through 2028.

If you add up the Hyundai IONIQ 5 deal, the Zeekr Ojai vans, the Toyota partnership for consumer vehicles, and the massive $16 billion war chest, you’re looking at a company that is scaling on every front simultaneously: fleet size, geographic coverage, vehicle diversity, and even the consumer market.

The IONIQ 5 is also a smart pick. It’s a proven, high-volume EV platform with the fast-charging capability and interior space that a robotaxi service needs. Building them at Hyundai’s Georgia plant means they’ll qualify for domestic manufacturing incentives and avoid the tariff headaches that the Zeekr-built Ojai vans could face.

The question is no longer whether Waymo can scale. It’s whether anyone else can catch up.