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Stellantis, the automaker that owns 14 brands including Chrysler, Jeep and RAM, and Waymo, the autonomous vehicle technology company, are not only still working together, but the companies are deepening the partnership, CEO Carlos Tavares told TechCrunch in a recent interview. told.
This “deep” partnership will focus on commercial self-propelled Ram delivery vans, which was a goal First announced in 2020 And immediately disappeared from people’s sight. The discussion over this “better” deal has centered, in part, around driverless delivery: How does the package get from the vehicle to the customer?
“When you reach the destination, how do you remove the parcel from the van?” Tavares said in a wide-ranging interview. “This has been an issue of discussion that does not seem easy to resolve and we are now upgrading our cooperation agreement with them with this in mind.”
“At the same time, we understand their needs and there are a lot of things we can do for them in terms of engineering,” he said, adding it was too early to share details. “But I will say that the partnership with Waymo is getting deeper. And I think, it’s more exciting.”
Tavares played a role of skepticism on important details like what, where and when. But he also said he hopes to be able to share more “probably by the summer.”
A Waymo spokesperson confirmed that the company is looking at ways to deepen its relationship with Stellantis, but did not share any other details or what progress has been made.
Tavares’ comments suggest the company has more than immediate interest in reviving a deal
Like many other autonomous vehicle-OEM partnerships over the past two years, this one appears to have failed.
Even if the two companies seal a comprehensive deal, the real challenge remains in executing it.
Waymo, which is owned by Google’s parent-company Alphabet, does not currently operate a commercial delivery service using its self-driving vehicles. Last summer, it has shut down its self-driving truck programVia Waymo, it will devote all its resources to expanding the robotaxi service.
In May 2023, Waymo and Uber agreed to a Multi-Year Strategic Partnership Allowing Uber users in Phoenix to drive driverless vehicles through the app. According to a Waymo spokesperson, that deal included future plans to include delivery through Uber Eats, but to date, it has not launched.
The two companies have been partners since 2016 when a deal was struck to supply Waymo Thousands of Custom Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Minivans It will become the first driverless vehicle to be launched.
Under the deal, Fiat Chrysler – now known as Stellantis – will handle manufacturing and provide minivans to Waymo that will be built in redundancies designed for autonomous driving.
Waymo never came close to the 62,000-minivan order it agreed to as part of an expanded partnership with Fiat Chrysler in 2018. Hundreds, if not thousands, of minivans were delivered to Waymo. But according to the company, the minivan became a key part of its commercialization plan and over its lifetime the fleet provided thousands of rides to the public. (Waymo has never disclosed detailed figures for its minivan fleet, other than that its total global fleet is about 700 vehicles.)
Waymo ended chrysler pacific program In May 2023. Today, its robotaxi service uses all-electric Jaguar I-Pace vehicles.
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