Waymo and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has signed an agreement to develop and test stand-alone vans and other light commercial vehicles designed to carry goods. The deal is the expansion of a partnership that began four years ago with a focus on autonomously driven Pacifica hybrid minivans intended for passenger transport.
The deal is the latest example of Waymo's efforts to build the delivery arm of its autonomous vehicle technology business. The two companies said that the initial plan is to integrate Waymo's autonomous stack, the software and hardware suite that allows the vehicle to operate without an operator behind the wheel, in that of FCA Ram ProMaster vans. These self-driving vans will be used by Waymo Via, the company's road haulage and local delivery service.
However, it appears that the terms of the deal could extend far beyond Waymo Via. It is possible that FCA may supply self-driving vans (equipped with Waymo technology) to other transportation companies through a license agreement.
The companies said the partnership actually covers FCA's entire vehicle portfolio. The agreement between FCA and Waymo also extends to future affiliates, according to those who are familiar with the partnership. This point is important because FCA and the French car manufacturer Groupe PSA are in the process of merging into a newly established company called Stellantis. If the 50-50 merger ended as expected in the first quarter of next year, the agreement would theoretically include all the brands that fall under Stellantis.
However broad the Waymo-FCA agreement may be, the automaker has sought other partners in the autonomous vehicle sector with different capacities. FCA's approach to rapid advancement of autonomous vehicle technology is to focus on vehicle side needs by establishing smart and strategic partnerships that promote a culture of innovation, safety and know-how, the automaker said at ProWellTech earlier.
Last year, the FCA and autonomous technology startup Aurora announced a partnership that also focused on light commercial vehicles. FCA said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Aurora, an agreement that has since followed its course, said a spokesman. The two companies are still working on customized Pacifica hybrids, which Aurora is using in its tests, but are not co-developing stand-alone commercial vans.
"In the past eighteen months, Aurora and FCA have worked closely together on the specifications, design and development of the Pacificas to which we have integrated the Aurora driver," Aurora said in an email statement. "Aurora is looking forward to implementing our self-driving solution on FCA's passenger and commercial vehicles."
FCA also provides the startup of specially developed Pacifica Hybrid Voyage self-driving vehicles which have been developed for the integration of automated technology. These vehicles are equipped with customizations such as the redundant braking and steering necessary to safely distribute driverless vehicles.
Waymo is known above all for the development, testing and now the launch of an on demand activity, capable of driving self-driving vehicles, that is, the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans. A spokesman reiterated that hailing is still his most important activity.
While Waymo has publicly talked about his ambitions for self-driving trucks, local delivery vans and even owning personal cars, the upgrading of his Waymo One robotaxi service in Arizona has largely overshadowed those plans.
Waymo first integrated its autonomous driving system into class 8 trucks and started testing them in Arizona in August 2017. These tests stopped a few years later. The company did not report truck tests in Arizona until May 2019.
Those early tests in Arizona were intended to gather initial information on truck driving in the region, while the new cycle of truck tests marked a more advanced stage in program development, Waymo said at the time.
Waymo's trucking program has had a higher profile since June 2019 when the company involved 13 robotics experts, a group that includes Anki's co-founder and former CEO Boris Sofman, to lead engineering in the autonomous trucking division.
