Google’s Gift to Moms: Self-Driving Minivans
Embarrassed to drive a minivan? Don’t worry—soon it’ll drive itself.
Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty
For the mom scrambling to keep the kids under control in the backseat, Google is cooking up the ultimate Mothers’ Day present: the self-driving minivan.
Working together with Fiat Chrysler, the tech giant is preparing 100 automated Chrysler Pacificas for testing. The Pacifica seats eight people, making it the largest and dorkiest vehicle Google has outfitted with the self-driving technology so far.
In the past, Google has tested out the same technology on cars from Lexus and Toyota, but that was without those companies’ collaboration. Fiat, on the other hand, is working directly with Google, which puts it at the forefront of an innovation that it was lagging behind on before.
But the cars may not just be for stressed-out moms. Earlier this year, Bloomberg revealed that Google is looking into its own Uber-type car service. So it’s possible the company is dreaming up a fleet of cabs with no cab drivers—in addition to its momless-mom-vans.
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