Google buys 20 thousand electric vehicles Jaguar for service of the robotaxi

At the end of March, 2018 Google announced purchase of 20 thousand Jaguar cars which the company will equip with the system of an auto pilot. According to The Wall Street Journal, transaction amount can exceed $1 billion.

It is about electric SUVs Jaguar I-Pace which the car maker will deliver Waymo (the division of Google specializing in robomobiles) within two years. The purchased machines will be used in service of pilotless taxi which Waymo is going to start in 2018.

The Jaguar I-Pace crossovers equipped with electronics which will allow cars to go without driver will appear in the service park by 2020 and will be able to execute about 1 million trips according to customer orders every day.

The Jaguar I-Pace crossover with Waymo auto pilot

The premiere of Jaguar I-Pace with the Waymo taxi service will be held on the New York International motor show which will take place from March 30 to April 8, 2018.

The Jaguar Land Rover concern will give to Waymo support in development of self-governed machines. Road tests and the analysis of real data of the environment will allow engineers of the companies to improve technology and to ensure safety of trips, the press release says.

Commenting on the event in March, 2018 deadly road accident with participation of the Uber unmanned vehicle, the head of Waymo John Krafcik expressed confidence that robomobiles of the company, being "the most experienced drivers in  the world", will be able to avoid any accidents. He also said that Waymo is not going to stop testing of self-propelled cars after the incident with Uber.

I-Pace has absolutely new electric platform which is capable to set the new standard in security, development and technical capabilities — Krafchik reported, answering a question why Waymo decided to buy the Jaguar cars.

The top manager also noted a high stock of the course of the "consumer" version of the electric vehicle I-Pace — about 387 km.^[1]

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