According to Sawyer Merritt on X, Hyundai will supply Alphabet’s Waymo with 50,000 IONIQ 5 autonomous vehicles by 2028, implying a potential $2.5 billion vehicle supply deal at an estimated $50,000 per unit, excluding additional autonomy hardware costs such as cameras and sensors. As reported by Sawyer Merritt, the scale signals an accelerated robotaxi fleet expansion that could lower per-mile autonomous ride-hailing costs and improve utilization economics across Phoenix, San Francisco, and future markets. According to Sawyer Merritt, separating base vehicle cost from sensor and compute stack spend suggests a layered CapEx model for Waymo, where high-volume standardized EV platforms reduce integration time while LiDAR, radar, and onboard compute remain the main margin drivers for suppliers. As reported by Sawyer Merritt, the 50,000-unit commitment creates near-term opportunities for Tier 1s in perception hardware, ADAS ECUs, thermal management, and high-voltage systems, and positions Hyundai’s E-GMP platform as a preferred robotaxi chassis for scalable autonomous operations.