Toyota and Waymo plan autonomous cars for private individuals
Mountain View. Waymo, Google's sister company, the leading robotaxis company, is taking the first step toward privately owned self-driving cars. Toyota plans to work with Waymo to explore how the technology can improve the next generation of vehicles. According to a statement, the two companies also plan to jointly develop a new platform for autonomous vehicles.
Waymo's driverless robotaxis are operating in several US cities and have now completed more than 250,000 paid rides with passengers per week. Currently, Waymo primarily uses converted electric cars from Jaguar. While they have a steering wheel and pedals, the driver's seat remains empty. For the next generation of robotaxis, Waymo plans to use vehicles from the Chinese brand Zeekr – albeit with their own electronics.
With Waymo's technology in private vehicles, the Google sister company would compete more closely with Tesla. Tesla CEO Elon Musk claims that most of the electric car pioneer's newer vehicles already have everything they need to operate as self-driving cars with the appropriate software. He therefore predicts that Tesla will soon have millions of autonomous vehicles on the road and a more than 90 percent share of the robotaxi market.
Experts and competitors, however, have doubts. Musk wants to rely solely on cameras, while Waymo and other robotaxi developers also use more expensive laser radars to scan the environment. There are concerns that the cameras might not capture enough information for reliable autonomous driving. Musk rejects these concerns and plans to launch a robotaxi service in June with an initial 10 to 20 vehicles in Austin, Texas.
Amazon is also in the running with its robotaxi company Zoox, which plans to bring a vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals and with room for four passengers onto the streets of Las Vegas and San Francisco. Zoox also uses laser radar.
Musk said months ago that there were talks with a major manufacturer about a license for Tesla's Autopilot assistance system, but there have been no announcements so far.
RND/dpa
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