Alphabet's Waymo buys thousands more self-driving minivans

Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving car unit, is set to buy thousands more Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans, the companies announced today. The deal, made between Google's parent company Alphabet and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, is set to expand Waymo's fleet, with first deliveries beginning at the end of 2018. The self-driving, ride-hailing service says the additional vehicles will support Waymo as it expands to more cities across the US, with its first publicly-offered service set to launch in Phoenix, Arizona later this year. Waymo recently unveiled a self-driving minivan that it hopes could revolutionise the way we travel. It showed off the technology at the closely-guarded'fake town' dubbed The Castle, 120 miles southeast of San Francisco The number of purchased vehicles has not been disclosed by either party, nor has the value of the deal, but since Fiat Chrysler's recommended starting retail price for the 2018 Fiat Chrysler hybrid is set at $39,995, and if Waymo's order is in the 1000s, the deal is worth at least $40 million.