Waymo Adding Up To 62,000 Minivans To Robot Fleet, May Supply Tech For FCA Models

Waymo is not thinking small as it prepares to make on-demand robot rides available to the general public, with plans to add as many as 62,000 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans to its fast-growing fleet of self-driving vehicles. It's also in talks to make that technology available to individual vehicle buyers. The Alphabet Inc. unit created to commercialize Google Self-Driving Car R&D said it's fleshing out a January 2018 announcement about adding "thousands" of the Chrysler vehicles, which at the time didn't specify a number. The deal could be worth about $2.5 billion for automaker FCA if Waymo buys the maximum number of vans, which have a $39,995 base price. It follows a March deal with Jaguar to buy up to 20,000 electric i-Pace crossovers over the next few years.