Waymo has ordered “thousands” of Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans to support the launch of a driverless ride-hailing service, the company announced Tuesday.
Fiat Chrysler previously delivered 100 Pacifica Hybrid minivans, adapted for self-driving, to Waymo during the second half of 2016 and an additional 500 in 2017. Waymo and Chrysler engineers worked together to design a self-driving vehicle built on a mass production platform. The companies did not elaborate on how many ‘thousands’ of vehicles the deal included – could be 3,000, could be 30,000.
“In order to move quickly and efficiently in autonomy, it is essential to partner with like-minded technology leaders,” Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, said in a release. “Our partnership with Waymo continues to grow and strengthen; this represents the latest sign of our commitment to this technology.”
Waymo plans to launch its autonomous ride-hailing service to the public beginning in Phoenix this year. The company said the additional Pacifica Hybrid minivans will be used to support Waymo as it expands its service to more cities across the United States. Waymo has officially tested its technology in 25 cities across the U.S., including Atlanta, San Francisco, Metro Detroit, Phoenix and Kirkland, Washington.
“With the world’s first fleet of fully self-driving vehicles on the road, we’ve moved from research and development, to operations and deployment,” Waymo CEO John Krafcik said in a release.
Last November, Waymo began test-driving a fleet of Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans on public roads without a driver at the wheel. “With this technical milestone, the hybrid minivans became the first vehicle to attain Level 4 autonomy, a classification determined by the Society of Automotive Engineers,” Waymo said in a release.
Waymo’s self-driving software is informed by more than 4 million miles of on-road testing, and billions of miles in simulation.
Waymo is Alphabet’s self-driving technology company born from sensor research in Google labs.
Fiat Chrysler previously delivered 100 Pacifica Hybrid minivans, adapted for self-driving, to Waymo during the second half of 2016 and an additional 500 in 2017. Waymo and Chrysler engineers worked together to design a self-driving vehicle built on a mass production platform. The companies did not elaborate on how many ‘thousands’ of vehicles the deal included – could be 3,000, could be 30,000.
“In order to move quickly and efficiently in autonomy, it is essential to partner with like-minded technology leaders,” Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, said in a release. “Our partnership with Waymo continues to grow and strengthen; this represents the latest sign of our commitment to this technology.”
Waymo plans to launch its autonomous ride-hailing service to the public beginning in Phoenix this year. The company said the additional Pacifica Hybrid minivans will be used to support Waymo as it expands its service to more cities across the United States. Waymo has officially tested its technology in 25 cities across the U.S., including Atlanta, San Francisco, Metro Detroit, Phoenix and Kirkland, Washington.
“With the world’s first fleet of fully self-driving vehicles on the road, we’ve moved from research and development, to operations and deployment,” Waymo CEO John Krafcik said in a release.
Last November, Waymo began test-driving a fleet of Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans on public roads without a driver at the wheel. “With this technical milestone, the hybrid minivans became the first vehicle to attain Level 4 autonomy, a classification determined by the Society of Automotive Engineers,” Waymo said in a release.
Waymo’s self-driving software is informed by more than 4 million miles of on-road testing, and billions of miles in simulation.
Waymo is Alphabet’s self-driving technology company born from sensor research in Google labs.
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