Ford has collaborated with Google to launch self-driving cabs for commuters.
Yahoo Autos has come to know that Ford and Google would develop a joint project to manufacture driverless automobiles with the technology of the search engine developer, a significant measure taken by both corporations towards the development of a new automated ride-sharing business.
According to three sources aware of the plans, the collaboration would be announced by the Michigan based enterprise at the Consumer Electronics Show in January next year. By collaborating with Google, Ford has progressed in the field of driverless application development, whereas it has been testing its own technologies for years, it only recently disclosed plans to start testing on California’s public streets.
Google tests 53 automobiles on road in Texas and California, with 1.3 million miles of autonomous driving. By tying up with the carmaker, the company avoids disbursing huge amount of money and many years that developing its own vehicle manufacturing company will require. Previously this year, co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin, affirmed that Google was finding manufacturing partners that will employ the driverless system of the company, which it believes could sometime cut down approximately 33,000 annual deaths on roads of the United States.
While precise details regarding the tie up were not disclosed, it is understood that the project will be legally isolated from Ford, in part to protect it from liability concerns. Questions regarding who would be held responsible for any accidents involving driverless vehicles are viewed as a significant hurdle in bringing them on roads. Volvo stated it will accept responsibility for accidents in autonomous mode, a promise followed by Mercedes-Benz and Google.
The agreement is viewed to be non-exclusive. Google has asked to several other organizations for some time regarding the utilization of its self-driving technologies. Majority of several automotive parts vendors and vehicle manufacturers are making their own driverless controls as well, with a few Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Nissan, promising modern automobiles for sale to clients by 2020.
The search engine company has refused to share its views on the development. An official at Ford, Alan Hall, told that the company collaborates with several businesses on its Ford Smart mobility plan. He further said, “We keep these discussions private for obvious competitive reasons, and we do not comment on speculation.”
Last week, according to Bloomberg’s report, Google’s parent company ‘Alphabet’ will be moving the self-driving enterprise under its own division, with the objective of finally launching a car or taxi hailing services in urban regions that will battle with the app-based ride-sharing enterprise, Uber, and others.
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