Lyft and Motional’s all-electric robotaxi service is now live in Las Vegas

Motional, which is a joint venture between Hyundai and Aptiv, has been testing its autonomous vehicles in Las Vegas through a joint partnership with Lyft for over four years now. The testing began as a weeklong pilot between Aptiv and Lyft during the annual Consumer Electronics Show in 2018 and has since gone on to complete over 100,000 passenger trips…

A safety driver will remain behind the steering wheel in case something goes wrong, similar to how other robotaxi services have launched over the years. But Motional and Lyft say fully driverless vehicles will join the service next year.

Unlike other robotaxi services in the US, Motional and Lyft aren’t requiring potential riders to sign up for a waitlist or sign a non-disclosure agreement to join a beta-testing program. And rides will be free; the companies plan to start charging for the service next year.