Waymo Partners with Toyota, Opening Door to Sell Autonomous Vehicles to Consumers

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨KayLeadfoot@fedia.io⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://fuelarc.com/tech/waymo-partners-with-toyota-opening-door-to-sell-autonomous-vehicles-to-consumers/

We wondered what Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai meant when he said on their earnings call last Thursday that for Waymos, “there is future optionality for personal ownership.”

Well, we only had to wait a minute to find out. Waymo announced today that they’re developing autonomous technology with a little automotive manufacturer you may have heard of: Toyota.

Tucked into the announcement, Waymo also plans to release a generalizable autonomous driving system for any given vehicle. Read our full analysis!

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Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
It will be fascinating to see just how autonomous this package will be, and where it can and cannot go. Will the vehicle be able to drive with no occupants? Can it handle gravel roads, tow a trailer?

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- Psythik@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  The Waymo cabs drive without occupants all the time, so assuming that it’s driving in a city that it’s familiar with (right now that’s LA, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Austin), I don’t see why the consumer version wouldn’t be able to.
  
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  - Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    I want to send the thing further down the river to wait for me on a whitewater trip, that would save so much hassle.
    
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- lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  I lived in Phoenix for a few years and saw more than a few driverless Waymo cars. It’s pretty fascinating, considering that the only accidents these cars are ever involved in are human-caused.
  
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nucleative@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I was in San Francisco last week and got to take Waymo several times. Truly a surreal experience and if properly implemented seems like it’s very much our future.

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sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
That’s sick! If I could buy a simple car to take me to/from work automatically, I’d absolutely get that. My state seems intent on not rolling out better mass transit, so this would at least let my commute not suck nearly as much.

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- Psythik@lemm.ee ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I just hope that the consumer version will give you the option to change your route, cause the Waymo taxis love to drive through random neighborhoods with a 25 MPH speed limit and increase your travel time, instead of sticking to the main route.
  
  They also have a tendency to make illegal turns, randomly brake for no reason (especially in the middle of a turn), and they love to slam on the gas and accelerate as fast as possible, only to drive 5 MPH under the speed limit.
  
  That said, I still trust them more than the average driver on the road. They just need to work out the kinks.
  
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venusaur@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Autonomous off roading?

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