launcht In the world of autonomous vehicles, time and again the deals happening in the industry have revealed to us, as to how important it is for companies to coexist. The latest deal includes Alphabet’s big purchase of a fleet of Fiat Chrysler’s plug-in hybrid Pacificas, manufactured with Waymo’s self-driving tech built in.
FCA will begin delivering the vehicles equipped with Waymo’s suite of self-driving hardware and software in late 2018. Waymo will use these new self-driving minivans to expand testing in multiple cities. The increase in self-driving minivans signals a deepening relationship between FCA and Waymo. It also shows Waymo’s progress—or at least its plans to—from research and development to a commercial enterprise.
Our partnership with Waymo continues to grow and strengthen; this represents the latest sign of our commitment to this technology
– Sergio Marchionne, CEO FCA
In a deal that’s worth over 40million USD, Waymo is set to open its autonomous ride-hailing service to the public beginning in Phoenix this year. The first users will be part of Waymo’s early rider program, which launched in the Phoenix area.
