Why Waymo and Jaguar Are a Perfect Self-Driving Car Match
As Uber pulls back on public autonomous car testing following a recent fatal accident in one of its self-driving vehicles, Waymo is moving full steam ahead with on-the-road assessments of the technology.
On the eve of the New York Motorcar Show, for example, Waymo announced that it would buy, outfit, and deploy 20,000 Jaguar I-Pace fully electric SUVs for autonomous ride-sharing purposes by the end of 2022.
"Not 2022, not 2022, but by the end of this year," Waymo CEO John Krafcik announced at a press briefing in New York. Krafcik besides said Waymo plans to eventually provide one one thousand thousand robo-taxi rides per mean solar day.
The self-driving Jaguar I-Paces will join the fleet of fully autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans Waymo has been testing in the Phoenix expanse with passengers onboard since last April, as function of its "early on passenger program." While the program started out with rubber drivers behind the wheel of the minivans, Waymo shifted in Novebmer to not having humans at the helm.
"When people use Waymo's [ride-sharing] service, they'll accept access to a broad selection of vehicles tailored for their trip," Krafcik added last week. "They can cull a minivan if they're traveling to soccer practice with their family. If 2 people are running a quick errand, why not take a cocky-driving Jaguar?"
I-Pace a Perfect Match for Waymo
Waymo probably had its pick of automakers to work with, and whatever car company would, of course, welcome selling 20,000 vehicles in one cruel dive. But the partnership came virtually because Waymo was looking for a specific type of vehicle and Jaguar was able to evangelize information technology before competitors.
"The way this partnership came well-nigh is we contacted Waymo to learn nigh their technology," Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) Northward America president and CEO Joe Eberhardt told me in an interview at the New York Auto Evidence final calendar week. "They contacted us most in parallel because they were looking for a certain type of machine for their armada and had specifications that we just happen to run into almost perfectly with the I-Step."
"We surveyed the globe and plant that the I-Step was the best next vehicle for Waymo," Krafcik said. "Its size makes it perfect for city driving. Its mod electrical architecture means it's well suited to our technologies. And it'due south big, fast-charging bombardment means it can drive all day, which is perfect for our self-driving service."
"We fulfilled all of that and nosotros were fix to go to market," Eberhardt added. "If yous look at battery electrical vehicles, the I-Footstep is the very starting time SUV from an established player. Yes, Tesla was in that location before the states, simply amongst the others nosotros're the first. And for Waymo it was really a perfect friction match."
While Waymo gets a luxury bombardment electrical vehicle with the specs and range it needs, JLR gets to partner with one of the premier self-driving players. "With this partnership, Waymo will help us gain access to technology and acquire from information technology and permit us to get to the forefront," Eberhardt said.
This is pregnant since, as a niche automaker compared to larger luxury competitors, the partnership with Waymo gives JLR an edge on self-driving innovation, without the massive R&D expenditure others in the infinite are making. "Now we're correct there with the all-time," Eberhardt said.
JLR will also proceed its ain self-driving R&D and testing in the Great britain "with all the universities and scientific institutions and research centers we're working with," Eberhardt added. "But this volition also exist influenced and informed by whatever we larn from the partnership and vice-versa. And I think information technology can only get stronger every bit a outcome."
JLR will too get enough of exposure for the new I-Pace, which goes on sale in the Usa later this year. Eberhardt pointed out that the xx,000 vehicles will be purchased over the half-dozen years of the partnership but added that "the sales volition probably happen towards the front end stop" of the menstruation.
"Just to become the exposure for the brand and the product is phenomenal," Eberhardt said. "That was a big aspect for usa to do the deal. That's marketing you tin't buy."
And I'k guessing that, given the option, more people volition probably desire to ride in a self-driving Jaguar I-Footstep rather than a Chrysler Pacifica. "The vehicle itself is graceful in the long tradition of Jaguar," Waymo'south Krafcik said. "Combined with our cocky-driving engineering science, it will provide a safe, delightful feel for our passengers."
About Doug Newcomb
Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/opinion/20436/why-waymo-and-jaguar-are-a-perfect-self-driving-car-match
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