My First Autonomous Motional Ride! Hyundai Motor Group's Robotaxi Service

TL;DR

First hands-on Uber ride in Motional's Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxi reveals a smooth but immature system with notable phantom braking and awkward maneuvers.

Key Points

• 1.Motional is 85% owned by Hyundai Motor Group and launched in Las Vegas just 6 weeks before this video. It operates only 10–20 Ioniq 5 robotaxis in a limited pilot zone covering Resorts World, Luxor, and downtown, accessed exclusively through the Uber app.
• 2.The Ioniq 5 robotaxis are purpose-built in Singapore, not Georgia or South Korea. They feature redundant steering and braking systems, extra onboard compute, and are crash-tested with all sensors installed from the ground up — unlike Waymo's Georgia-built Ioniq 5s retrofitted by Magna in Arizona.
• 3.Booking a Motional ride via Uber is frustratingly random. Users must opt into autonomous vehicles in settings, then repeatedly cancel standard rides hoping an AV is assigned — one rider needed only 2 tries while another cycled through many cancellations.
• 4.The sensor suite is described as 'overkill,' including an unusual lidar mounted at trailer-hitch height near the ground. The hardware load appears to drain efficiency significantly, with the car showing only 2 miles per kWh — very low for city driving — suggesting sensors draw heavy power.
• 5.Initial ride quality felt smooth and confident leaving the parking lot, earning early praise. The system uses turn signals correctly, displays intended actions on screen (e.g. 'accelerating to 27 mph'), and regen braking felt refined with no jarring pop-back at stop.
• 6.Several concerning incidents emerged mid-ride: a severe phantom brake shook passenger confidence, and the car briefly blocked traffic while confused at an awkward intersection. A Tesla passing illegally triggered a full emergency stop, and the car nearly cut off another vehicle entering the Luxor parking lot.
• 7.The interior passenger experience lags behind Waymo and Zoox — no climate or music controls are accessible from the rear touchscreen. A loud cooling fan for power electronics was noted as annoying, and the raised trunk floor reduces cargo space due to an unidentified black box.
• 8.In a direct same-night comparison, Motional edged out Zoox, which suffered a full ABS phantom brake at a green light and missed a turn entirely. Reviewers rated Motional 3/5 for ride quality but 5/5 for experience, and safety riders will remain until end of 2026 before driverless operation begins.