Land Rover invests in autonomous vehicles

company contributes $25 million to autonomous lyft rental vehicles

Jaguar Land Rover on Monday said it has invested $25 million in Lyft as part of an effort to ramp up development of autonomous vehicles and other up-and-coming automotive technologies.

Developments

Through the partnership, the car company will be able to develop and test its tech, including self-driving cars, on Lyft’s new Lyft Open Platform, which lets makers of self-driving cars plug into the ride-hailing company’s network, on which nearly 1 million rides are taken everyday. Also as part of the deal, Jaguar Land Rover will supply a fleet of regular vehicles for Lyft drivers, according to a news release. The details of the partnership are still being worked out, a Lyft spokesman said, but the deal means Lyft drivers will be able to rent the cars to pick up passengers. The investment comes from InMotion Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital

A New Venture

arm, which invests in transportation and mobility startups.

“Personal mobility and smart transportation is evolving and this new collaborative venture will provide a real-world platform helping us develop our connected and autonomous services,” Sebastian Peck, InMotion’s managing director, wrote in a statement. Lyft President John Zimmer wrote: “Lyft envisions a future where shared mobility will transform cities and improve people’s lives. This partnership will help us achieve that ambitious goal.” The investment was part of Lyft’s most recent round of fundraising, which closed in April at $600 million. The news comes less than a week after Lyft announced a partnership with self-driving car software maker nuTonomy. The companies will work together on autonomous vehicles in Boston, where nuTonomy already has test cars on the road.