MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA, United States (Reuters) — Alphabet Inc’s Google unit has agreed to buy 100 plug-in hybrid minivans from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV to expand its self-driving vehicle testing program, the two companies said on Tuesday (May 03) — in the most advanced partnership to date between Silicon Valley and a carmaker.
The vehicles will not be offered for sale to the public. Unlike prior testing in which Google bought Toyota Motor Corp vehicles from dealers and retrofitted them, the search engine giant will work with FCA directly on the test models.
Under the agreement, FCA will equip 100 of the Chrysler Pacifica minivans it launched in February with Google’s self-driving technology. The deal does not preclude either FCA or Google from cooperating with others, the companies said in a statement.
Executives at other auto makers, including Ford Motor Co, General Motors Co and Daimler AG, have expressed wariness about alliances with Alphabet or other technology companies that could relegate them to the role of hardware suppliers. Auto executives have said they do not want to stand by while Alphabet reaps richer profits from the data generated by vehicles and their passengers.
GM has signaled that it plans to go its own way on driverless car technology, moving to buy self-driving vehicle startup Cruise Automation.
John Krafcik, a former auto executive who heads Alphabet’s self-driving car project, made a public pitch for partners in January at a conference in Detroit in January. Fiat Chrysler officials in Michigan and Italy have declined to comment on speculation that Google’s technology could eventually be offered on the new Chrysler Pacifica minivan launched in February. Marchionne and other FCA officials are scheduled on May 6 to visit the Windsor, Ontario plant that builds the Pacifica.
Auto and technology industry executives have said self-driving vehicles, possibly minivans, might hit the roads first in ride-sharing or shuttle fleets.
Among the models that Alphabet has been using in its self-driving project is the Lexus RX450h, a hybrid sport utility vehicle, made by Toyota Motor Corp