Google's self-driving car project sets up shop in Michigan

"Many of our current partners are based here," the team wrote, "so having a local facility will help us collaborate more easily and access Michigan's top talent in vehicle development and engineering." Novi is about a 35-minute drive from Fiat Chrysler's US headquarters in Auburn Hills, so it makes sense that Google would set up shop nearby in order to do some R&D work on those autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans. Google has previously said it wants to see 100 Pacificas added to its self-driving fleet by the end of 2016, which lines up nicely with their move-in plans at the Novi facility.