Fiat Chrysler will build around 100 driverless hybrid minivans for Google, more than doubling the size of the Google Self-Driving Car Project's fleet. The two companies will co-locate engineers at a facility in Michigan to design the vehicles. The partnership comes despite dismissive comments in the past from Fiat's CEO about the tech industry's intrusion into the automotive industry:
Fiat Chrysler has announced a deal with Google to double the size of the tech giant's fleet of self-driving cars. Fiat will supply 100 Chrysler Pacifica vans and provide engineers to help integrate the technology. The companies described the deal as the most advanced partnership to date between Silicon Valley and a traditional carmaker. Google wants to add more cars to its fleet to increase the amount of road testing it does.
Fiat's chief executive has in the past raised also concerns about the tech industry's impact on the carmakers. Sergio Marchionne called tech companies moving into the sector "disruptive interlopers" and questioned the calibre of the vehicles they could produce.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @08:40AM
If a passenger riding in a driverless car suddenly becomes the subject of a police investigation with an arrest warrant put out for allegations of being a disruptive terrorist, does the driverless car immediately lock its doors and change destination to the nearest police station to deliver the passenger for enhanced questioning?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @12:35PM
No, if you're designated a terrorist, then you're done for. No need to interrogate or question anything. The car will be told to drive off a tall bridge and switch to 'manual control' in the last split-second before doing so. The makers of the autonomous vehicle will then be able to claim "he did it himself, it's not our software and the Secret Police has shown us the logs to prove it".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @12:52PM
This also ensures a continuous demand for new AVs. Yeay, economy & jahbs!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bitstream on Thursday May 05 2016, @09:38AM
So now the fleet of remote operated 1 tone battering rams will be expanded. And any inconvenient passengers will get the gas and turn right firmware *oops* update.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Gravis on Thursday May 05 2016, @10:21AM
i'm looking forward to be killed in B♭!
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Thursday May 05 2016, @11:08AM
Skitt's Law is in affect.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @12:46PM
Make sure you first look left, then right and that you have your glasses on so you C#.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday May 05 2016, @04:31PM
It is interesting that Chrysler/Fiat had their Jeep remotely hacked and driven into a ditch, suddenly gets religion and realized that maybe there is something to this newfangled driver-less car falderall after all.
But in addition to their previous mutterings about self driving cars they have also been less than enthusiastic [greencarreports.com] about electric vehicles.
Hopefully they are starting to get the message on a number of different issues.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by bitstream on Thursday May 05 2016, @04:49PM
Any message that don't impact this years profits will be ignored until it does.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Bogsnoticus on Thursday May 05 2016, @10:07AM
Given the amount of driverless, abandoned and broken down Fiats & Chryslers I've seen by the side of the road, how is this news exactly?
/troll
Genius by birth. Evil by choice.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @12:05PM
FCA (Fiat Chrysler) is in real trouble behind the scenes -- Fiats aren't selling well in USA and neither are any of the other cars. They can sell trucks and other large vehicles until gas prices go back up. No electric cars to speak of, a few hybrids, no internal programs worth mentioning on advanced driver aids. This deal with Google is a big reversal by FCA management who have been searching (in vain) for a partnership with another car company.
On the other side, Google needs some way to get to scale. If the 100 minivan deal works OK, they will be back for more. A repeat of the Motorola deal seems quite likely -- buy the company (or a large portion), strip out what is useful to Google and dump the rest.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday May 05 2016, @12:14PM
FTFY - they found it in the minivan instead.
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday May 05 2016, @12:34PM
Do not worry about irrelevant details like selling cars, if FIAT follows its traditional strategy it will simply merge/incorporate with all the other US automakers, once done they will transfer to China.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by tibman on Thursday May 05 2016, @02:26PM
I'm still waiting for a better jeep of some kind. Diesel would be fine too. Last i checked they are planning for a hybrid in 2022 (why bother even announcing such a thing when all they have is napkin drawings). Was driving my last jeep around when gas hit 4$ a gallon and i don't want to do that ever again.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @05:51PM
You frequent SN yet you are unfamiliar with vaporware?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 05 2016, @03:20PM
Also pretty much all the other car companies told google to pound sand when they saw the TOS. Google wanted all the data and then sell it back to the car companies. That did not fly with the car companies.