Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan, equipped with Waymo’s self-driving technology.\u00a0Source: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles<\/span><\/p>\n

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• Waymo\u00a0CEO predicts Self-Driving Trucks May Come Before Taxi Service<\/strong><\/li>\n
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  Alphabet arm exploring “goods transportation” and ride-hailing<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
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  Krafcik says Ford and GM could still partner with Waymo<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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  Bloomberg –<\/strong> Alphabet Inc.\u2019s driverless vehicle technology may come to market first in trucks, rather than as an autonomous ride-sharing service.<\/p>\n

  John Krafcik, chief executive officer of Alphabet\u2019s Waymo division, said Wednesday he\u2019s exploring at least two paths for its self-driving systems and software.<\/div>\n

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  “Ride-sharing makes a lot of sense for the world,” he said at\u00a0Bloomberg\u2019s Sooner Than You Think conference on Cornell University\u2019s Tech engineering campus in New York City. “For goods transportation, which could travel primarily on highways, there\u2019s a good and compelling use-case there, too. Either of those two might be the first ones you see.”<\/p>\n

  Krafcik has noted the company is looking at logistics and delivery models, but he has not shared details on its plans for a trucking or goods transit service. Waymo has confirmed that it owns one truck it is testing with self-driving software and sensors.<\/p>\n

  The Alphabet arm started a small ride-sharing trial earlier this year outside Phoenix, inviting hundreds of people to hail its self-driving minivans using a mobile app. That program is free at the moment. And, so far, Waymo only has one automaker supplying vehicles,\u00a0Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.<\/div>\n

  To get more partners, Krafcik is pitching automakers on a radical new per-mile business model: They can make more money providing a mobility service over the lifetime of their vehicles, rather than one time up front when they sell cars and trucks.<\/p>\n

  Detroit\u2019s giants,\u00a0Ford Motor Co.\u00a0and\u00a0General Motors Co., have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on their own autonomous technology and programs, and so far have been cautious about teaming up with Waymo.<\/p>\n

  Krafcik said these efforts were “examples of experimentation and learning,” not a sign of resistance to Waymo\u2019s overtures. He equated them with the practice at Boeing Co. and other airline companies, which hire jet engine specialists. They don\u2019t manufacture the engines, but their engineers help source them. “That helps them be a very smart purchaser,” he said.<\/p>\n

  Would GM and Ford eventually ink deals with Waymo? “Someday,” Krafcik said. “It\u2019s possible.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan, equipped with Waymo’s self-driving technology.\u00a0Source: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles   Waymo\u00a0CEO predicts Self-Driving Trucks May Come Before Taxi Service Alphabet arm exploring “goods transportation” and ride-hailing Krafcik says Ford and GM could still partner with Waymo   Bloomberg – Alphabet Inc.\u2019s driverless vehicle technology may come to market first in trucks, rather…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,18,29,47,64,56],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3699"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3701,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699\/revisions\/3701"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/moovafrica.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}