Their car and driver are one and the same – a “Googled” Chrysler Pacifica.
The Google Self-Driving Car Project and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) have announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration to integrate Google’s self-driving technology into a fleet of 100 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid MPVs to expand Google’s existing self-driving test programme.
This marks the first time that Google has worked directly with an automaker to integrate its self-driving system, including sensors and software, into a passenger vehicle.
The Pacifica Hybrid MPVs will be more than double Google’s current fleet of self-driving test vehicles. Engineering responsibilities will be shared based on each company’s respective expertise. Chrysler will initially design and engineer around 100 vehicles uniquely built for Google’s self-driving technology, while Google will integrate the suite of sensors and computers that the vehicles will rely on to navigate roads autonomously.
Both companies will co-locate part of their engineering teams at a facility in Michigan to accelerate the design, testing and manufacturing of the self-driving Chrysler Pacificas.
Self-driving cars have the potential to prevent some of the 33,000 deaths that occur each year on U.S. roads, 94 percent of which are caused by human error. This collaboration will help FCA and Google better understand what it will take to bring self-driving cars into the world.
“Working with Google provides an opportunity for FCA to partner with one of the world’s leading technology companies to accelerate the pace of innovation in the automotive industry,” said Sergio Marchionne, CEO of FCA. “The experience both companies gain will be fundamental to delivering automotive technology solutions that ultimately have far-reaching consumer benefits.”
Google’s self-driving cars are currently being tested in four U.S. cities – Mountain View, California; Austin, Texas; Kirkland, Washington; and Phoenix, Arizona. The self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid MPVs will be tested by Google’s self-driving car team on its private test track in California prior to operating on public roads.
The Google Self-Driving Car Project is working to develop fully self-driving vehicles that have the potential to make our roads safer and increase mobility for the millions of people who cannot drive. The ultimate goal is to help people get from A to B at the push of a button.
In the project’s seven-year history, the vehicles in the test fleet have self-driven over 2.4 million kilometres on public roads. The Google Self-Driving Car Project is part of X, a “moonshot” factory that belongs to Google’s parent company Alphabet.
The “Googled” Pacifica found its own way here with Google Maps.
