Instead, the tech giant is now reportedly refocusing its efforts on developing self-driving vehicle technology that can be incorporated into traditional cars. There was no steering wheel or pedals in the vehicle.
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Recent changes to Google’s self-driving business unit include the appointment of ex-Hyundai North America executive Krafcik as the project’s CEO. The new business will operate under the Alphabet umbrella, much like Nest Labs, Google Fiber, GoogleX and Google. In May, it announced a partnership with Fiat Chrysler that would allow the company to outfit 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans with Alphabet technology.
What seems clear is that there’s a new gold rush when it comes to autonomous vehicles. In an interview with Wired, Krafcik said Waymo is “a self-driving auto company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get around”. Up until that point, all other self-driving cars on the road had drivers on board.
We don’t want cars becoming incompatible with other road vehicles because of software faults that develop three years into the ownership cycle, do we?
Since Google changed its corporate structure past year, parent-company Alphabet has housed Google’s main search-engine business, separating the ambitious projects like Internet balloons and flying delivery vehicles into a different unit. Since then, its fleet of cars has covered more than 2.3 million miles in the Bay Area, Austin, Arizona and Washington state.
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Our hopes of cruising around town in a Google self-driving vehicle – on our Google Pixel Android phone, watching Google Play Movies & TV – may now be dead. “Today, we’re taking our next big step by becoming Waymo, a new Alphabet business”. Krafcik reiterated that the company’s goal is still creating a Level 4 or Level 5 autonomous vehicle in which passengers can sit back and completely relinquish control of the auto. Not only that, but you have to consider the human factor and just how many people truly want to give up driving their own cars.
