Fiat Chrysler confirms driverless Google car plan

Google and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles have announced a joint-venture deal that will see the pair develop a fleet of autonomous 2017 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid people-movers.

Although it's far from a deal that was rumoured to involve FCA contracted to mass-produce Google's hotly anticipated driverless production vehicle, the announcement marks the first major collaboration between a car-maker and the world's biggest search engine.

The initial agreement includes 100 autonomous Pacifica hybrids to be developed by a group of engineers from both companies, who will work together at a site in southeast Michigan to design, engineer and test the vehicles.

The driverless Pacificas will not be sold to the public, but added to the Silicon Valley firm's growing fleet of autonomous research and test vehicles – first at Google’s private test track in California, before it joins the company’s road-going test fleet, which will more than double in size.

Engineering duties will be shared between the two companies based on their areas of expertise, with Google responsible for developing the sensors, computers and software involved in the self-driving tech and the Italian-American car-maker developing the hardware.

The move is a significant departure from the approach Google has taken so far for its driverless car project, the vast majority of vehicles in which are Lexus RX crossovers purchased and then modified by Google.

Most recently, Google produced its own autonomous pod car, which has now been permitted to test on public roads in California.

“FCA has a nimble and experienced engineering team and the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan is well-suited for Google’s self-driving technology,” said the CEO of Google’s Self-Driving Car Project, John Krafcik.

"The opportunity to work closely with FCA engineers will accelerate our efforts to develop a fully self-driving car that will make our roads safer and bring everyday destinations within reach for those who cannot drive.”

FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne, who alluded to the deal last year, said: “Working with Google provides an opportunity for FCA to partner with one of the world’s leading technology companies to accelerate the pace of innovation in the automotive industry.

"The experience both companies gain will be fundamental to delivering automotive technology solutions that ultimately have far-reaching consumer benefits.”

Google is known to have had discussions with a number of car-makers about autonomous vehicles including General Motors, but according to Automotive News a deal couldn’t be concluded because of disagreements over ownership of technology and data.

For th world's seventh largest car-maker, which currently has virtually no autonomous driving systems in its vehicles, the partnership with Google is consistent with Marchionne’s view that car-makers should consolidate their investment rather than waste money developing multiple versions of the same technology.

According to FCA and Google, self-driving cars have the potential to prevent some of the 33,000 deaths that occur each year on US roads, 94 per cent of which are caused by human error.

"The Google Self-Driving Car Project is working to develop fully self-driving vehicles that have the potential to make our roads safer and increase mobility for the millions of people who cannot drive," says Google's driverless car mission statement.

"The ultimate goal is to help people get from A to B at the push of a button. In the project's seven-year history, the vehicles in the test fleet have self-driven over 1.5 million miles on public roads, and they're currently being tested in Mountain View, CA, Austin, TX, Kirkland, WA, and Phoenix, AZ.

"The Google Self-Driving Car Project is part of X, a moonshot factory that's part of Google’s parent company Alphabet."