The independent autonomous car developer, Waymo announced recently that it plans to develop the autonomous technology as an automotive supplier by expanding its partnership with multiple car manufacturers. The current fleet of Waymo comprises of Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans and it was reported to be in talks with Honda for providing vehicles with objective of installing and testing of its self-driving tech.
The fleet of 100 Chrysler minivans has currently undergone millions of miles of testing with autonomous tech and would hit the public roads in Arizona and California later this month. The company claims that they have managed to reduce the cost of its laser-guided radar system by up to 90 per cent, from an initial cost of $75,000 (Rs 51.11 lakh approx) per vehicle when they started working on it eight years ago.
The self-driving car subsidiary of the technology giant intends to double its fleet this year. Waymo has rather decided to establish itself as a provider of the autonomous technologies instead of building its own self-driving vehicle.
John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo, emphasising on the company’s plans said, “What we're bringing to market is a self-driving technology platform. The self-driving project is aimed at creating a platform, and not working on any one specific product. This integrated software and hardware platform will allow us to deliver products and services. Some of these we may do on our own. Some we may work on with partners. We intend to take the cost down even further, with the goal of making this technology accessible to millions of people. We're at the point now where we believe we're at an inflection point where we can begin to realise the potential of this technology.”
