CES might be over, but ride-hailing startup Lyft and self-driving software company Aptiv have decided to stick around Las Vegas. Their self-driving BMW taxis are staying, too.
The two companies collaborated during the week of CES, the annual tech trade show in Las Vegas, to bring an autonomous ride-hailing service to the city.
The Las Vegas pilot project, which incorporated Lyft’s app with Aptiv’s autonomous driving platform to give CES attendees self-driving taxi rides, has been extended, Aptiv CTO Glen De Vos said Tuesday at the North American International Auto Show.
The two companies are in discussions to bring a pilot to a second market in the future, he said, without providing more details.
During the CES public pilot, Aptiv’s self-driving BMWs provided more than 400 point-to-point rides to the general public over five days. The pilot traveled to more than 20 predetermined destinations, including Caesars Palace and other Las Vegas casino-hotels.
It’s unclear if or how this pilot with Aptiv, which spun out from Delphi last year, will be different than Lyft’s Boston-based project with self-driving vehicle startup NuTonomy. Auto parts supplier Delphi acquired nuTonomy for $450 million last year. NuTonomy became part of Aptiv after the spinoff was complete.
