Uber will buy thousands of autonomous Rivian robotaxis and invest up to $1.25 billion (€1.1bn), aiming to launch a fleet of 50,000 vehicles by 2030.
Uber, or its fleet partners, are expected to buy 10,000 fully autonomous Rivian R2 robotaxis, with the option to purchase up to 40,000 more by 2030.
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The companies said on Thursday that initial deployments of the vehicles are expected to begin in San Francisco and Miami in 2028 and will expand to 25 cities in the US, Canada and Europe by 2031.
“We’re big believers in Rivian’s approach - designing the vehicle, computer platform and software stack together, while maintaining end-to-end control of scaled manufacturing and supply in the US,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement.
“That vertical integration, combined with data from their growing consumer vehicle base and experience managing the complexities of commercial fleets, gives us conviction to set these ambitious but achievable targets.”
Uber's investment in Rivian will be spread out until 2031 and is subject to hitting certain autonomous milestones by specific dates.
An initial $300 million (€260.5 million) investment has been committed following the deal's signing, subject to regulatory approval.
Rivian, based in Irvine, California, makes a high-end R1T pickup truck and the R1S SUV, as well as delivery vans for Amazon and others. It will begin making the smaller R2 this year. The automaker started long-delayed work on a $5bn (€4.3bn) facility in Georgia last year.
Shares of Rivian were up by more than 3% at around 4 pm CET, while Uber shares were slightly down.
