The first autonomous minivans built as part of a partnership between Waymo—formerly Google’s self-driving-car project—and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) are nearly ready for the road.
Executives from both companies have just announced that 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans created specifically for self-driving operations have been delivered. Engineers from Waymo, which was spun out as its own independent company last week, are now outfitting the vehicles with the company’s sensors and self-driving technology.
Waymo says the cars will join the existing test fleet in early 2017.
“With this great new minivan on the road in our test markets, we’ll learn how people of all ages, shapes, and group sizes experience our fully self-driving technology,” said Waymo CEO John Krafcik.
Testing was conducted at FCA’s proving grounds in Chelsea, Michigan, and Yucca, Arizona, as well at Google test sites in California. Production on the 100 Pacifica hybrids began in October.
Their arrival comes at a timely juncture in the race to commercialize ride-hailing vehicles. An alliance between Uber and Volvo to develop self-driving XC90 SUVs hit a regulatory roadblock just last week, when Uber deployed the vehicles in San Francisco without first obtaining an autonomous-vehicle test permit from the California DMV. Instead of withdrawing the cars, Uber has opted to defy regulators’ demands to keep the cars off the street until they’re properly permitted.
Exploring the prospects of ride-hailing in multiple-passenger autonomous vehicles, the Google-FCA and Uber-Volvo projects are competitors. Even before Uber’s regulatory spat, Waymo was viewed as an early front-runner.
“Google’s primary advantage, and they have two advantages, is years of on-road validation and integration with their own technology, and that cannot be quickly replicated,” said Mike Ramsey, research director at Gartner, a global technology consulting company. “Second, they have run a billion miles of simulation in the past year with the most powerful artificial intelligence out there. You can’t tell me anyone has it better, and it’s hard to imagine that anyone closes that gap.”
Now the latest iterations of that technology are closer to hitting the road. Neither Google nor FCA has offered details about the number of sensors on the Pacificas or specifics on how a purpose-built onboard computer stitches together data from the sensors. With the early prototypes, Krafcik said the companies have already run a gamut of experiments, including more than 200 hours of extreme-weather testing.
Modifications have been made to the minivan’s electrical, powertrain, chassis, and structural systems to optimize the vehicle for Waymo’s fully self-driving technology.
“As consumers’ transportation needs evolve, strategic collaborations such as this one are vital to promoting a culture of innovation, safety, and technology,” said FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne. “Our partnership with Waymo enables FCA to directly address the opportunities and challenges the automotive industry faces as we quickly approach a future where fully self-driving vehicles are very much a part of our daily lives.”
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