Fiat Chrysler and Waymo fool agreed on an exclusive deal to develop self-driving commercial vehicles, an area some believe could be the first widespread utilization of autonomous technology.
Waymo, a segment of Alphabet, will work with the Italian-American automaker to integrate its autonomous driving system, which it calls the “Waymo Driver,” into the Ram ProMaster full-size van from Fiat Chrysler.
The stoppage consists of “light commercial vehicles,” which are used for commercial delivery customers. Such vehicles primarily file delivery vans, large pickups and other big vehicles such as chassis cab trucks.
2019 Ram ProMaster
Ram
Automakers and tech houses for years have promised publicly available ride-hailing fleets but many such as Ford Motor have started focal point on commercial delivery for initial deployments of autonomous vehicles. The vehicles can be on set routes and don’t have to deal with passengers.
Alone, Fiat Chrysler has agreed to make Waymo its exclusive partner for future “Level 4” autonomous vehicles across the crowd’s global fleet. Such vehicles can operate by themselves without driver supervision in most conditions.
Waymo, in a blog post, bring up the companies have already “started to work together to imagine future FCA products for the movement of people and goods run by the Waymo Driver.”
The deal is anticipated to expand and continue with Fiat Chrysler’s expected merger with French automaker PSA Troupe into a company called Stellantis. Fiat Chrysler and Waymo declined to release financial details of the deals.
Waymo’s administers with Fiat Chrysler come a month after the company announced a partnership with Volvo Cars Assembly to develop a self-driving electric vehicle designed for ride-hailing use in June. Volvo, like Fiat Chrysler, also coincided for Waymo to be its Level 4 partner on autonomous vehicles.
Partnering with automakers has been Waymo’s strategy for testing and reveal autonomous vehicles, which has been a harder task than many had expected even a few years ago.
Fiat Chrysler was the primary automaker to partner with Waymo in 2016. The automaker built and developed special versions of its Chrysler Pacifica plug-in combination minivan for Waymo’s testing fleet.
Waymo is considered among the leaders, if not the leader, in autonomous vehicle development and deployment. The throng launched its first ride-hailing service, Waymo One, in December 2018. It mostly operates in the Phoenix area with some full-autonomous assay cars and others that operate with trained safety drivers. Waymo, which is testing in other U.S. metropolises, also said it operates on “business applications,” including a delivery service it calls Waymo Via.
In its first external investment around, Waymo in March announced a $2.25 billion in funding.
— CNBC’s Jennifer Elias contributed to this report.
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