{"id":19788,"date":"2016-12-22T16:03:14","date_gmt":"2016-12-22T20:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=19788"},"modified":"2016-12-22T16:04:22","modified_gmt":"2016-12-22T20:04:22","slug":"self-driving-firm-moves-fast-waymo-in-talks-with-honda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/self-driving-firm-moves-fast-waymo-in-talks-with-honda","title":{"rendered":"Self-driving firm moves fast: Waymo in talks with Honda"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Waymo_logo\"<\/p>\n

Less than a week after Google\u2019s self-driving technology company spun off as its own enterprise, Waymo is already in talks for a collaboration with a second major automaker. The Silicon Valley company\u2019s latest proposed partnership \u2014 this time with Honda \u2014 suggests it is eager to press its advantage in autonomous technology and bring it to market, industry analysts say.<\/p>\n

Honda Motor Co. announced Wednesday it is entering formal discussions with the Silicon Valley company to integrate Waymo\u2019s self-driving technology with Honda vehicles. Honda R&D Co. Ltd. \u2014 the research and development subsidiary of Honda \u2014 will work directly with Waymo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe collaboration announced today between Honda researchers and Waymo\u2019s self-driving technology team would allow both companies to learn about the integration of Waymo\u2019s fully self-driving sensors, software and computing platform into Honda vehicles,\u201d Honda said in a press release from its Tokyo headquarters.<\/p>\n

The talks include discussion of Honda initially providing Waymo with vehicles modified to accommodate Waymo\u2019s self-driving technology.<\/p>\n

Fiat Chrysler Automobile NV\u2019s announced Monday that it will test 100 Pacifica minivans outfitted with Waymo technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween Honda and Chrysler, Waymo is ready to aggressively integrate their technology in manufacturers\u2019 cars,\u201d says Kelley Blue Book auto analyst Karl Brauer. \u201cTheir self-driving technology is more refined than anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brauer notes that the Pacifica and the 2018 Honda Odyssey, which will be introduced at the Detroit auto show, are the most advanced minivans on the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause initial autonomous applications are likely to be business-to-business applications like campuses and public transportation,\u201d says Brauer, \u201cminivans are a great place to start because they haul the most people. If nothing else, Waymo seems to be looking for the most advanced minivans on the market. Then they could move on to other vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebecca Lindland, also an analyst for KBB, says, \u201cThe dialogue between Waymo and Honda makes a lot of sense given that Honda is such a well-respected brand. It\u2019s a tacit endorsement of the technology, and consumers won\u2019t hesitate to buy a Honda. Honda is already well ahead of many automakers when it comes to artificial intelligence, evidenced by its ASIMO humanoid robot. With 100 of Chrysler\u2019s minivans already outfitted with Waymo\u2019s technology, it\u2019s as if Waymo went to the dance with Chrysler, but they\u2019re leaving with Honda.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honda\u2019s vehicles could join Waymo\u2019s fleet which includes the Pacifica minivans, 24 Lexus RX450h SUVs and 34 Google prototype cars. The vehicles combined have driven more than 2.3 million miles since 2009 across Mountain View, California; Austin, Texas; Kirkland, Washington; and Phoenix.<\/p>\n

If both Honda and Waymo agree to enter into a formal partnership, Honda R&D engineers based in Silicon Valley and Japan would work closely with Waymo engineers in Novi and Mountain View, California.<\/p>\n

Waymo and Fiat Chrysler co-located part of their engineering teams at a facility in Novi to accelerate the overall development process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s consistent with Waymo\u2019s strategy that it would want to work with different manufacturers to make these vehicles,\u201d says IHS Automotive auto analyst Stephanie Brinley. \u201cAnd Honda wants to learn more about this technology, too. From their announcement, it feels like Honda may want to negotiate a deeper agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honda previously announced its intention to put production vehicles with automated driving capabilities on highways around 2020 related to its goal of a collision-free society.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not in the business of making better cars, we\u2019re in the business of making better drivers,\u201d Waymo CEO John Krafcik, a former Hyundai exec, said in announcing the Waymo spinoff from Google parent Alphabet Inc. last week in San Francisco. \u201cWe\u2019re a self-driving technology company \u2014 not a car company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krafcik will speak Jan. 8 at the Detroit auto show about the future of autonomous mobility. Fiat Chrysler will show its specially outfitted Pacificas at that presentation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Less than a week after Google\u2019s self-driving technology company spun off as its own enterprise, Waymo is already in talks for a collaboration with a second major automaker. The Silicon Valley company\u2019s latest proposed partnership \u2014 this time with Honda \u2014 suggests it is eager to press its advantage in autonomous technology and bring it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19788"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19789,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19788\/revisions\/19789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}