Driverless rides on the Lyft app will expand beyond Las Vegas in 2023

Las Vegas has long been the only place where you can request a Lyft ride and be greeted by a self-driving car.

But on Wednesday, Lyft and autonomous car company Motional announced driverless taxis will ferry passengers around more cities starting in 2023.

For the past three years, self-driving BMWs with sensors and cameras on top were only available in Las Vegas as part of a pilot program. A safety driver was always in the car and trips were limited to certain parts of the Nevada city.

As part of this expansion, Motional will deploy new driverless Hyundai vehicles. Earlier this year Lyft's self-driving partner in Vegas, Aptiv, joined forces with Hyundai Motor Group to launch Motional, an autonomous driving joint venture. The self-driving cars in Vegas were rebranded as Motional cars in October.

Those cars in Vegas have sensor-loaded BMWs available for autonomous pick-ups. But with the expansion, Hyundai's self-driving tech and vehicles will power the next generation of Lyft-Motional vehicles. The company says these new vehicles will no longer require a safety driver in the front seat.

Although Lyft and Motional haven't announced which cities will offer the robotaxi service, the self-driving program will continue to use Lyft for booking and customer interaction through the app. So look out for it in cities in the U.S. (and Canada) where ordering a Lyft driven by a human is currently available.

Until then, the Lyft-Motional program will continue in Vegas while we wait for the new taxis to arrive elsewhere.