Waymo to add Jaguar's electric SUV to its fleet of self-driving taxis

Google's Waymo and Jaguar Land Rover have inked a deal that will add tens of thousands of the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace SUV's to Waymo's growing fleet of self-driving taxis.

The I-Pace SUV will be for those who want a high-end ride while Waymo's Chrysler Pacifica vans will be more of a regular people mover. People will pay a premium for riding in the Jaguars.

EV I-Pace models built as EVs from the start not retrofitted

The first prototype I-Pace fitted with Waymo's self-driving technology will be ready for public road testing by the end of 2018. It will officially become a part of Waymo's ride-hailing service beginning in 2020. Engineers from Waymo and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)) will work together to build the cars to be self-driving from the start rather than retrofitting cars that come off the line.

Over the longer term. the two companies say they plan to build up to 20,000 vehicles just in the first two years of production. The goal is to serve 1 million trips a day.

The present situation

Waymo now has about 600 Chrysler Pacifica minivans in its fleet. Some of them are used to shuttle people around as part of its Early Rider program in Arizona. The vans are not purely electrical but plug-in hybrids fitted out with Waymo's hardware and software. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Waymo co-staff a facility in Michigan where they engineered the vehicles.

As well as the minivans, Waymo also owns a fleet of Lexus RX SUVs that are being phased out. The egg-shaped "Firefly" prototype was phased out last year.

The Jaguar I-Pace will be a higher performance, higher end companion to the more utilitarian Pacifica vans. The I-Pace when it debuted immediately appeared as competitors to Tesla's Model X 75D and Model S but thousands of dollars cheaper. It has a roomy anterior, luxury accent, and an impressive range and horsepower.

I-Pace addition could challenge GM's Cruise

GM Cruise LLC usually referred to a just Cruise or Cruise Automation is a US autonomous car company with headquarters in San Francisco California. The company was founded by Kyle Vogt and Daniel Kan in 2013 but was sold to GM in March 2016 for an undisclosed amount anywhere from more than $500 million to over $1 billion.

Cruise is currently testing 100s of self-driving Chev Bolts both in San Francisco and Arizona. Cruise hopes to launch a commercial taxi service by 2019.

GM sees the future of cars as both autonomous and electric with nothing else. Other companies such as Ford are also embracing hybrid autonomous vehicles as part of its strategy. Waymo too will have both plug-in hybrid Pacificas and the all electric I-Paces within its fleet.

Several cities should soon have commercial. self-driving cars

Waymo plans to start its fully autonomous ride-hailing service in Phoenix later this year. However, it also has test vehicles in Michigan, and also on the road in San Francisco., Washington State and Atlanta Georgia. John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo said that the company would announce its second commercial outlet later this year.

The addition of JLR into partnership could mean that the UK could also be targeted for the service.

JLR has also partnered with Lyft

Jaguar_Land_Rover (JLR) is a multinational automotive manufacturer with headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, the UK and now a subsidiary of the giant Indian company Tata. Jaguar and Land Rover were bought from Ford by Tata in 2008. On January 1 of 2013 the two firms were merged into JLR.

Lyft is an on-demand transportation service with headquarters in San Francisco California. It has its own transportation mobile app. The service launched in 2012 and now operates in 300 US cities and expanded into Canada last year. It provides over one million rides a day.

JLR has invested $25 million in Lyft to support the company's autonomous and connected vehicle research. JLR will test Lyft's platform on JLR's vehicles. Waymo also has a separate partnership with Lyft.

Recent fatal crash in Arizona causing some concern

There was a recent fatal crash involving an Uber autonomous vehicle in Tempe Arizona. The car had a safety driver. Uber temporarily halted its driver testing program. The governor of Arizona suspended the company from further testing in the state. The Tempe police and US National Transportation Safety board are both investigating the incident.

Waymo continues on with its projects undeterred by concerns some other companies such as Toyota have had. Toyota has paused its self-driving tests. However, Waymo is continuing as it tries to become a leader in the field and take advantage of what is likely to be a very lucrative market.

Published previously in Digital Journal

California and Arizona compete to attract tests of autonomous vehicles

Both Arizona and California appear anxious to allow fully autonomous cars to be tested on their public roads as both have issued orders allowing such tests.

Arizona's regulations

Waymo, a Google-owned autonomous car developer is already showcasing its driverless Pacifica minivans as reported in a recent Digital Journal article.

On Thursday Arizona governor Doug Ducey issued a new executive order making what is already happening official, allowing fully autonomous cars to operate on public roads with no safety driver. The vehicles must follow all existing traffic laws and rules for cars and drivers.

Ducey initially issued his order in 2015, and since then, Uber, Waymo, General Motors and Intel have been testing self-driving cars on public roads in Arizona. Waymo even does so with no driver behind the wheel of the robot cars. Waymo hopes to start its ride-sharing operation this year.

Ducey said: “As technology advances, our policies and priorities must adapt to remain competitive in today’s economy. This executive order embraces new technologies by creating an environment that supports autonomous vehicle innovation and maintains a focus on public safety.”

There are already 600 self-driving cars operating on public roads in Arizona. Not only Waymo is testing the cars but Intel as well. Also, Uber and GM are testing their cars near Scottsdale. The white minivans are a common site in Chandler and also in Phoenix. Uber's grey SUV's can be seen around Arizona State University. GM's white cars are mostly seen around south Scottsdale.

Kevin Beisty, deputy director for policy at the Arizona Department of Transportation said at a public forum that Arizona prided itself as "being part of the innovation and trying to stay out of the way of innovation".

California allows testing as well

The Ducey announcement comes just a few days after California announced that it would let fully autonomous vehicles on public roads in April. Previous tests on public roads required a safety driver be in all cars.

Arizona regulations are fewer than those of California. In California testers are required to get a permit, and must submit annual reports on software disengagements. In contrast Arizona requires no public disclosures of these.

Uber had an argument with California over its regulations last year which prompted them to move their tests to Arizona

Previously published in Digital Journal

Driverless minivans seen in Phoenix Arizona

In Phoenix Arizona Waymo owned by Google that is developing driverless cars released a video showing one of its driverless Chrysler Pacifica minivans as part of a pubic education campaign to raise awareness about the new technology.

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Waymo to develop robot taxi service in Phoenix

Waymo is preparing for the debut of a commercial robot taxi service in Phoenix and the video was part of a campaign to educate the public about the driverless vehicles. To some. the idea of a driverless vehicle is a bit frightening.

The Arizona Department of Transportation recently gave Waymo permission to operate as a transportation network in the state.

The video goes into detail on the many sensors used by the minivan and their range. The sensors include LIDAR that measures distance to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed laser light and measuring the reflected pulses with a sensor. Passengers can watch data displayed on a screen.

A report last year said that the vehicles had trouble making left turns. However, in the video, the vans make several left turns with no problem so the issue must have been solved.

Waymo claims that nothing was edited for the videos. There was a person in the car for filming purposes but no safety driver.

Waymo's advertising campaign

Waymo partnered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the National Safety Council in its ad campaign.

Waymo also announced that its autonomous vehicles had now racked up one million miles over six years on public roads but in another six months that had risen to 4 million miles. In just the last 3 months it reached 5 million miles.

Waymo

Waymo is an autonomous car development company and subsidiary of Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc. It was formed in December of 2016 as separate from Google. Waymo stands for "Way forward in mobility". Executives said its mission was to make it safe and easy for people and things to move around.

In 2017 WayMo announced it had formed a partnership with Intel to develop autonomous driving technology. In November of the same year Waymo announced it had begun testing autonomous vehicles without any safety driver.

Waymo competing with Uber

Uber has long feared that Waymo intends to operate its own ride-hailing business. Since last April Waymo has been testing its self-driving vans that will let customers hail cars through an app that is similar to the one used by Uber the San Francisco based ride-sharing business that hopes to set up a similar service. Rides in the WayMo vans are currently free but ultimately WayMo will no doubt charge for the rides.

Previously published in Digital Journal

Calfornia to allow testing of autonomous vehicles with no safety driver

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in California USA announced last Monday that it has established new rules that will allow those working on autonomous vehicles to begin trials with no safety driver at the wheel.

The new regulations go into effect on April 2. A public notice will go up on March 2nd on the DMV website. Companies can apply for three types of permits: testing with a safety driver, driverless testing, and deployment.

Earlier rules required a trained safety driver be in the vehicle

While the California Department of Motor Vehicles already allowed testing of autonomous vehicles on roads, the vehicles always had to have a safety driver behind the wheel ready at all times to take over manual control if something went wrong. The new rules represent an important step to finally allowing self-driving vehicles to be used commercially.

The new rules still have provisions that will allow control of the vehicle if there is any kind of trouble. There must be a dedicated communications channel connecting the car to a remote operator who can take control if there is a problem. The car's communication system must be protected against cyber attacks.

Any company wishing to test a vehicle will need to get a permit from the DMV. The new rules only apply to consumer passenger vehicles not vehicles such as the new Tesla semi trucks.

GM and Alphabet should welcome new regulations

GM's Cruise and Alphabet's Waymo will likely welcome the news. Waymo is already testing an autonomous version of the Chrysler Pacifica in Arizona. Cruise has recently shown off its autonomous vehicle a modified version of Bolt but with no steering wheel and no pedals for brakes and no accelerator. GM Is hoping to have the cars available by 2019. Tests are being carried out in San Francisco.

Director, Jean Shiomoto of the California DMV said: “This is a major step forward for autonomous technology in California. Safety is our top concern and we are ready to begin working with manufacturers that are prepared to test fully driverless vehicles in California."

The Federal Self Drive Act

The US House or Representatives has already passed the Self Drive Act which cleared the house unanimously and now goes to the Senate. Although the bill could if passed accelerate the roll-out of the autonomous vehicles there are concerns that it could also conflict with some state legislation. It would be the first national legislation governing the vehicles. The bill would not allow states to pass legislation that the auto industry considers restrictive.

Previously published in Digital Journal

Autonomous vehicles will radically change society

While it is still not clear how long it will take, electric cars, robo taxis, and self-driving trucks are bound to radically alter our society, perhaps sooner than we think.

Tests of driverless cars are already taking place

Carlos Ghosn CEO of the Renault Nissan Alliance claims that driverless or fully autonomous cars will be in use everywhere within six years. If such a quick transition takes places it would do more than change just the automobile industry but change our lifestyle and the shape of our activities within cities.

However, as a recent Digital Journal article points out driverless cars may still be far in the future. Many are selling the concept without any actual product being available or even if it were regulations that would allow it to be used need still to be developed. The market just for purely electric vehicles is still relatively miniscule. It remains to be seen if consumers are even anxious to become involved with the new driverless technology.

Declining public transportation

Cheap ride hailing services could reduce the use of and demand for public transportation . According to a recent University of California study people are already using ride hailing apps instead of driving, taking the train, cycling or even walking.

It is hard to see why one would encourage such a trend. It could create new problems as public transport moves huge numbers of people in a few vehicles whereas privatized driverless vehicles would need many more and create its own type of traffic jam. It is not clear why the same type of service could not be provided publicly. Public transportation could use the new driverless technology on its systems making them much cheaper and more efficient than robot taxis.

While removing human drivers from a private hailing system might make it more affordable, the same is true of any public system. If the public system became more efficient and were promoted as are private systems than we would not likely have dwindling passenger numbers. The public system is declining because politicians like to promote and reward the private companies that lobby them and help finance their campaigns.

The decline of air travel over short distances

In the US, people often take short flights between or even within states. However, the autonomous technology could make car journeys a more pleasant and productive technology. A Bloomberg article argues that the effect could be similar to that of bullet trains in Japan.

However, this ignores the fact that the cars would need to go at a similar speed to the bullet trains. The bullet trains are much more efficient as well in that they carry huge numbers in one vehicle.

Finally, the argument ignores the fact that driverless vehicles also includes airplanes. They can take advantage of the same technology as the driverless autos. Aviation consultant Mike Dorion claims that pilotless flights will be available within the next five or ten years.

The link between US popular culture and car ownership will dwindle

Already a University of MIchigan study shows that fewer young people are learning to drive citing the cost and ability to share rides as a key reason. However, there is no reason why car ownership of driveless cars could not become a matter of pride and create a similar link with popular culture. Makers and sellers of driverless cars would promote this linkage.

Yet Microsoft's Doug Seven a leader of the company's connected and driverless car efforts said:“We as Americans associate our identity with our car. When the 20 year-olds become the 40 year-olds and the 40 year-olds become the 60 year-olds, the cultures will shift.”

Driverless trucks

The US is already facing a shortage of drivers and fewer young people want to take on the job. The average age of drivers is now about 49 so within a few years they will retire. More driverless trucks should be good for the industry.

Tesla is producing a driverless semi and several companies have place pre-orders. However, many doubt that Tesla will be able to deliver what is promised and critics point out that considerable advances in battery technology are needed for Elon Musk of Tesla to keep his promises. Musk has been late on delivering promises before so it would not be surprising if the advent of driverless trucks is some time in the future yet.

Companies will test a few units to see how they work before buying the trucks in quantity. GIven their limited range, the new trucks will probably be confined to shorter hauls. An infrastructure of charging stations still needs to be developed.

A Bloomberg artcile discusses other important impacts of the new technology plus winners and losers.

Previously published in Digital Journal

Self-driving cars may not be available for years

At the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas there were many announcements about self-driving cars. However, even if you wanted to buy a self-driving (autonomous) vehicle you could not.

Selling a concept rather than a market-ready car

All throughout last year car companies spent billions on research and development (R&D) on autonomous cars and then millions marketing the result of that research at the CES this week. As yet there is no product to sell or even any indication that everyone is just waiting to buy one.

You can currently purchase cars that have some basic autonomous driving software in cars by Tesla and Mercedes-Benz. Other autonomous vehicles such as tractors are further advanced.

Companies tout their technological advances

Ford was among those making announcements about advancements in its autonomous driving technology at CES. GM revealed a self-driving car with no steering wheel or floor pedals. Aurora announced that it will support the programs of Volkswagen and Hyundai to develop an autonomous car.

Toyota touted its improved Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) abilities. LIDAR is used to measure the distance of a vehicle from an object and is key to ensuring that the autonomous vehicle does not collide with objects.

Autonomous vehicles may start with pizzas and senior citizens

There is competition among car producers over pizza delivery using autonomous vehicles. Toyota is teaming up with Pizza Hut.

Toyota calls its delivery vehicles “e-Palettes” and describes them as “fully-automated, next generation battery electric vehicles designed to be scalable and customizable for a range of Mobility as a Service businesses.” They are somewhat like transparent cargo or shipping containers on wheels. They are larger or smaller in size depending on their specific task.

Ford Motor Company had already announced they would be joining with Dominos. So among the first autonomous delivery vehicles you see on the road may be delivering your pizza.

Tests are now being made of autonomous vehicles in fenced areas. Voyage has carried out tests in a Florida retirement community. Driverless vehicles could be transporting seniors soon.

Ford's cars and the smart city

Ford stressed that it intended to develop open source, rather than proprietary, code for the industry, even describing itself as a public partner rather than just a big corporation seeking profit.

Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis at Edmunds said: ”Ford’s vision for the smart city is an interesting premise, but at this point it’s not much more than that. Bringing this smart city to reality will require significant municipal cooperation and investment, and it remains to be seen if local governments share Ford’s ambitions. It’s admirable that Ford is taking a philosophical approach and is looking at how connected vehicles can change society for the better, however, this future is a long way off.”

Autonomous vehicles do appear to be a feature of the future, so no doubt many auto makers want to ensure that they are poised to be ready for the market when it does arrive. If they do not, they may find themselves left, behind and their profits will dwindle. Companies such as Tesla or Google may see them in their rear view mirrors so to speak.

Will people accept the new technology?

Autonomous cars could be a boon for those with special needs. Perhaps autonomous vans or small buses could serve to transport senior citizens or those with physical disabilities that do not allow them to drive.

Surveys show that most people are wary of sharing the road with fully autonomous vehicles. Many fear that a road filled with a mixture of autonomous and regular vehicles may pose dangers. In a recent poll 31 percent said that they would be very concerned about sharing a road with a driverless car and another 33 percent said they would be somewhat concerned. The poll was by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

Companies want to convince the public that autonomous vehicles are safe. Perhaps the safe arrival of pizza from Pizza Hut or Domino's in a driverless delivery vehicle will help quell fears.

2018 may see another sales slump for automakers

Caldwell remarks: “Last week at CES automakers tempted with visions of the future of transportation, but the Detroit show is all about the here and now. While 2018 will be another strong year, it will be a down year — so automakers are using the Detroit show to serve up more of the trucks and SUVs shoppers crave. Funding mobility startups and investing in EV and autonomous technology isn’t a cheap proposition, and automakers have to keep the cash flowing in now if they want to build the strongest foundation for the future world they’re envisioning.”

The automakers will need to ensure that they sell enough of existing models to fund the expensive research necessary to compete in the future autonomous market. They also need to drive around writers on auto issues in the fancy new concept cars such as the Mercedes-Benz, Smart Vision EQ Concept.

The need for regulations

Before autonomous cars take to the roads there must be regulations, federal motor vehicle safety standards set for the vehicles. In a recent poll on the issue 63 percent were against any mass exemptions of autonomous vehicles from existing federal safety standards.

There was strong support, 75 percent, for the US Department of Transportation developing new standards for autonomous vehicles. The poll surveyed 1,005 adults last December.

Previously published in Digital Journal