zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Tech
/
The Biggest Fleet Of Autonomous Cars Ever Will Soon Be Open To The Public
The Biggest Fleet Of Autonomous Cars Ever Will Soon Be Open To The Public-December 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:10:40

Google’s self-driving car project, the wonderfully named Waymo, took time out from a against Uber to announce on Tuesday that it’s launching a public testing program for hundreds of families in Arizona. Along with that, it’s expanding its fleet of self-driving Chrysler Pacific Hybrid minivans from 100 to 600, which would make it the largest collection of robot cars around today. (.)

, Waymo said it has been quietly piloting a program in Phoenix, Arizona, with a handful of residents who’ve been riding around in Pacificas as the “very first people in the world to take part in .”

Arizona has an extremely hands-off approach to autonomous vehicles, which might explain the decision to start a test there. Waymo’s encouraging hundreds of others to apply, those with “diverse backgrounds and transportation needs who want to ride in and give feedback about Waymo’s self-driving cars.”

“Rather than offering people one or two rides, the goal of this program is to give participants access to our fleet every day, at any time, to go anywhere within an area that’s about twice the size of San Francisco,” the company wrote.

Silicon Valley has been the epicenter of the race to build self-driving cars, with Waymo in particular focusing its efforts on developing the technology and partnering with an established automaker to test the product sooner. Uber’s done the same with Volvo, but the , in which Waymo accused Uber of using self-driving tech designs stolen by a former employee who abruptly left the company to launch a self-driving truck start-up that Uber later acquired.

Launching the program in Arizona might be a quiet jab at Uber, as well. Uber relocated its own self-driving pilot from California to Arizona, but the effort hasn’t gone entirely smooth: Last month, the ride-hailing giant across the U.S. after one of its Volvos was involved in a collision.

Anyway, if you live in the Phoenix area and want to apply for Waymo’s test, the application process is . And here’s a happy-go-lucky video of some of the folks already involved.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Tech
BMW's Expensive i3 And i8 Experiments Remind Us That Being First Isn't Enough
BMW's Expensive i3 And i8 Experiments Remind Us That Being First Isn't Enough
If someone asked me back in 2014 or 2015 which of Germany’s core luxury brands would be the leader in electric vehicles by now, I probably would’ve answered BMW. Not because BMW was doing anything revolutionary at the time, but simply because it was the first of its segment...
Dec 17, 2025
We're Doing A Reader Contest For Autopia 2099 And Only Masters Of High Voltage Will Win
We're Doing A Reader Contest For Autopia 2099 And Only Masters Of High Voltage Will Win
Electric propulsion is the future! Lots of automotive enthusiasts are being real downers about that fact, but with we’re trying to get the world to be a little more optimistic about it. Electric hot rodding is alive and well, modern EVs are better than ever, and there’s even cooler...
Dec 17, 2025
Zoox Isn't Afraid Of Getting Wet
Zoox Isn't Afraid Of Getting Wet
Autonomous car testing is usually done in dry climates — Arizona and Nevada, mostly — for the simple reason that, when it rains, snows, sleets, or otherwise isn’t sunny and dry, that could pose problems for cars with no human drivers, possibly delicate sensors, and software that may not...
Dec 17, 2025
Tesla And NHTSA Are Spoiling For A Fight
Tesla And NHTSA Are Spoiling For A Fight
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Tesla have circled each other , like characters in an old western preparing for the big showdown. Who has gotten the better of their exchanges usually depends on who is in the White House; now, because there is a Democrat there again,...
Dec 17, 2025
BMW Said It Will Stop Making Internal Combustion Engines In Munich By 2024
BMW Said It Will Stop Making Internal Combustion Engines In Munich By 2024
BMW said Friday that it would stop making internal combustion engines at its Munich plant by 2024, in another step towards going even more in the direction of electric. This is not an end to new internal combustion engine production for BMW, but it feels like the beginning of...
Dec 17, 2025
Universities Will Race Autonomous Cars Around Indianapolis Motor Speedway This Week
Universities Will Race Autonomous Cars Around Indianapolis Motor Speedway This Week
The two-year long competition will reach its ultimate crescendo this week in Speedway, Indiana as nine university teams prepare to race autonomous cars for $1 million at the iconic Brickyard. The final two rounds of the Indy Autonomous Challenge are scheduled to take place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway over...
Dec 17, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved