This month, internet giant Google and the Fiat-Chrysler group announced their partnership to use the Chrysler Pacifica as a platform for the former’s self-driving technology, but the alliance has a catch.
It seems that even though Google plans to add 100 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans on the road by the end of the year, none of them will be for sale. Moreover, Google has no plans to share proprietary self-driving vehicle technology with Fiat Chrysler, nor to expand its partnership with FCA in order to create a self-driving car, as Reuters reports the Google self-driving car Chief Executive John Krafcik saying:
“This is just FCA and Google building 100 cars together. We’re still talking to a lot of different automakers. We’ve been very open about what the technology is and the problem we want to solve together. Solving this problem is going to require a lot of partnership.”
However, Krafcik went on saying that Google has logged over 1.5 million miles of test driving and has no timetable for making self-driving cars available for the public.
“We have a responsibility to get this out there as soon as we can and really as soon as we have data that says we’re better than the current system of flawed human drivers. As soon as we’re better we should push the button and go.”
Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said from the very beginning that the partnership with Google was limited, although he suggested that the alliance could evolve.
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