Waymo to Purchase 'Thousands' of Chrysler Pacificas for Self-driving Duty

Waymo, the self-driving division of Google’s parent company Alphabet, just announced it has reached a deal to purchase a buttload of Pacifica minivans from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Alright, to be fair, it didn’t actually use the term “buttload.” It said Chrysler would provide “thousands” of units, which will ultimately be outfitted for autonomous driving.

Unfortunately, neither company seems willing to disclose an official count. Waymo currently has around 600 self-driving Pacificas in its fleet, so even an extra thousand vehicles would equate to a multi-million dollar deal and the exponential growth of its autonomous development program.

“With the world’s first fleet of fully self-driving vehicles on the road, we’ve moved from research and development to operations and deployment,” Waymo CEO John Krafcik said in an official statement. “These additional vehicles will help us scale.”

In the past, Waymo used its little Firefly pod prototypes and Lexus SUVs for testing. However, it has almost entirely phased both out in favor of the Pacifica. The primary reason being that the minivan has more commercial applications. A big order like this could be indicative of the company wanting to move out of testing and into business.

However, with its autonomous fleet just beginning testing in seriously inclement parts of the United States, being able to hail a self-driving Pacifica may not be in the cards for a while.

Still, residents of Phoenix, Arizona have been able to experience its autonomous vehicles without a driver — albeit in a localized area. The company claims it will expand its “Early Rider” program in the months to come, allowing more Arizona residents to use the minivans as their own personal taxi service.

Despite partnering with Waymo, FCA chief executive Sergio Marchionne’s feelings towards autonomy are noticeably measured compared to other CEOs. In the past, he called the race toward autonomy “difficult” and cited the headaches involved as one of the main reasons for getting into bed with company in the first place.

“In order to move quickly and efficiently in autonomy, it is essential to partner with like-minded technology leaders,” Marchionne said in a statement. “Our partnership with Waymo continues to grow and strengthen; this represents the latest sign of our commitment to this technology.”

[Image: Waymo]