Waymo’s John Krafcik Lifts the Veil Slightly on Alphabet’s Driverless Strategy

Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving vehicle subsidiary revealed a bit of its business strategy in an address Sunday by CEO John Krafcik, who said the company intends to develop its own sensors and software rather than rely on other suppliers, as most suppliers and automakers are doing. Krafcik, a former Ford and Hyundai executive, said at the press preview of the North American International Auto Show that Waymo had succeeded in lowering by 90% the cost of a $75,000 LIDAR sensor, which uses lasers to sense objects.

Alphabet’s Waymo Cuts Cost of Key Self-Driving Sensor by 90%

Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving car unit, Waymo, has slashed the cost of a key technology required to bring self-driving cars to the masses and rolled it out Sunday in an autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivan. Waymo has cut costs by 90 percent on LiDAR sensors, which bounce light off objects to create a three-dimensional map of a car’s surroundings.

Google’s Waymo to Show Off Self-Driving Minivan at Auto Show in Detroit

The autonomous Chrysler Pacifica features technology developed inside Alphabet, but it’s unclear how the company will make money on it. While Alphabet ‘s newly spun-out Waymo unit sat out the Consumer Electronics Show , CEO John Krafcik will demonstrate its new self-driving minivan for the first time this Sunday during a presentation at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Fiat Delivers Alphabet’s Waymo 100 Self-Driving Hybrid Minivans

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV announced the production of 100 Pacifica Hybrid minivans which will join Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo self-driving vehicle fleet. The minivans are currently being being outfitted with fully self-driving technology, including purpose-built computers and a suite of sensors, telematics and other systems, and will become part of the test fleet of Waymo, formerly the Google car project, in early 2017, the Italian-American manufacturer said Monday in a statement.