Motional to Test Self-Driving Cars in Los Angeles | California Expansion

Motional Expands California Operations

Motional, an autonomous vehicle company resulting from a $4 billion joint venture between Aptiv and Hyundai, is bolstering its California presence. This expansion includes the launch of a new operational center in Los Angeles to facilitate public road testing, increased engineering recruitment, and the establishment of a new office within Silicon Valley.

Growth and Investment

Following a significant recruitment drive, Motional now employs over 1,000 individuals. This growth is coupled with expansion into Seoul and the announcement in December of plans to introduce fully driverless robotaxi services in major U.S. cities in 2023, utilizing the Lyft ride-hailing platform.

While the specific investment amount for the California expansion remains undisclosed, Motional is demonstrably allocating capital to hire personnel and scale operations across both Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Los Angeles Expansion Details

Motional has maintained a presence in Los Angeles since 2016, housing machine learning and hardware engineering teams. The company has relocated this team to a larger facility in Santa Monica, conveniently located near the Santa Monica Pier.

A new operations facility, situated a few miles away, is also being established. This will enable Motional to more than double its Los Angeles workforce to over 100 employees. The facility will be instrumental in mapping roadways and ultimately conducting on-road testing of its autonomous vehicles.

Initial testing routes will be concentrated in the Santa Monica area, close to both the office and the operations facility.

Vehicle and Technology

Testing will utilize the all-electric Hyundai IONIQ 5, which will serve as the foundation for Motional’s future commercial robotaxi fleet. Revealed in February 2021, the IONIQ 5 is slated for general consumer release later this year.

The vehicle will be fully integrated with Motional’s driverless system and equipped with essential hardware and software for Level 4 autonomous driving. This includes components like lidar, radar, and cameras. Level 4, as defined by SAE, signifies the vehicle’s ability to manage all driving functions under specific conditions and within defined environments.

Testing Protocols and Permits

Currently, testing will involve autonomous vehicles operated with a safety driver present. Motional is still awaiting a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to conduct testing without a human operator.

This marks the first instance of Motional testing on public roads within Los Angeles. The company already conducts autonomous vehicle testing in Boston, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, and Singapore.

Strategic Importance and Future Outlook

Karl Iagnemma, President and CEO of Motional, characterized this expansion as a “doubling down” on the company’s West Coast presence. He stated that this growth will provide the necessary talent, testing capabilities, and research & development resources to achieve their commercialization goals.

Iagnemma also emphasized the long-standing importance of Los Angeles to Motional’s global operations.

Silicon Valley Office

In addition to the Los Angeles expansion, Motional has opened a new office in Milpitas, located in the southern region of the San Francisco Bay. This office will house the company’s compute design team.