This is Uber’s new robotaxi from Lucid and Nuro | TechCrunch

Uber, Lucid Motors, and Nuro unveiled the production version of their collaborative robotaxi at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show, and TechCrunch got a sneak peek ahead of the unveiling.

It’s a vehicle that’s been in the works for more than half a year now, part of a deal that saw Uber invest $300 million in Lucid and commit to buying 20,000 electric vehicles from the company. On Monday, the companies said the robotaxi is already being tested on public roads ahead of a planned commercial service launching in the San Francisco Bay Area later this year.

Based on the Lucid Gravity SUV, the robotaxi has high-resolution cameras, solid-state lidar sensors and radars integrated into the bodywork and roof-mounted ‘halo’. The autonomy package is powered by Nvidia’s Drive AGX Thor computer. That halo also has integrated LED lighting that allows riders to identify their vehicle (similar to how Waymo’s Jaguar I-Pace SUVs work).

Crucially, all this extra technology is added to the Gravity as it is built at Lucid Motors’ factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, saving the companies some time and money. By comparison, Waymo currently has to take apart the I-Pace SUVs it receives from Jaguar and integrate the autonomous technology as it puts them back together. (Future Waymo vehicles are planned to be more purpose-built.)

The vehicle unveiled Monday is a more polished version of the test version that the three companies have shown off in press photos for the past seven months. The latest element to be revealed at CES has to do with how users will interact with the Uber-Lucid-Nuro robotaxi. That includes a small screen on the halo meant to greet riders and a ride interface in the cabin.

This user interface will be familiar to anyone who has driven a Waymo. The rear passenger screen shows an isometric graphic of the robotaxi driving through the city streets, with images of nearby cars and pedestrians.

The companies did not yet have an interactive version of the software – which is made by Uber – ready for testing. But it’s built to display the standard information, like estimated drop-off time, how much driving time remains, and climate and music controls. There are also buttons to reach rider support and to tell the robotaxi to stop.

The front passenger screen shows much of the same information, just on a larger central touchscreen display. In the demonstration car on display at the Fontainebleau hotel, many of the same elements appeared on the Gravity’s large 34-inch curved OLED display, which sits behind the steering wheel.

Uber has chosen to build this upcoming ‘premium’ robotaxi service around the Gravity, and at a high level it seems like a sensible decision. The Gravity is extremely spacious inside, especially in the two-row configuration seen in the hotel. (Uber says a three-row version will also be available.)

That said, the Gravity’s first full year was fraught with problems. Lucid battled software issues as it ramped up production of the SUV, and the problems got so bad that interim CEO Marc Winterhoff sent an email to owners in December apologizing for the “frustrations” they were experiencing.

Lucid has apparently been able to recover from that, announcing on Monday that it had doubled its 2024 production figures and hit new sales records. Time will tell if the robotaxi version has the same software issues.

Uber, Lucid and Nuro said Monday that once final validation is completed on the robotaxi later this year, real production versions will roll off Lucid’s factory lines in Arizona. However, the companies did not provide a concrete timeline for this.