Waymo Recruiting Hundreds of Volunteers to Ride in Self-Driving Minivans

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Eight years into its effort to make self-driving cars a reality, executives from Waymo say they’re shifting their focus from the technology itself and turning more attention toward the needs of people who will use the vehicles. The company, an independent subsidiary spun out from Google’s self-driving-car project, has announced that it’s adding 500 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans to its autonomous fleet.

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That represents a massive increase from the 100 Pacificas that Waymo outfitted with its self-driving systems last year. Many of the new vehicles will head to Phoenix, Arizona, where the company has created an Early Rider program that allows members of the public to use self-driving cars in their daily routines in exchange for giving feedback on the vehicles. The program quietly launched over the past two months, Waymo revealed.

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“We’ll learn things like where people want to go in a self-driving car, how they communicate with our vehicles, and what information and controls they want to see inside,” said Waymo CEO John Krafcik. “Our early riders will play an important role in shaping the way we bring self-driving technology into the world.”

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Waymo says it is seeking “hundreds” of people from a variety of backgrounds to use the vehicles in Phoenix and its suburbs. Residents interested in participating can apply to be part of the program on the company’s website. The application hints at the broad spectrum of users Waymo hopes to attract, from enthusiastic adopters of new technology to people in households where someone has a medical condition that prevents driving.

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Three families have already been enrolled in Early Rider. Their reasons for wanting to use the self-driving vehicles range from helping shuttle multiple kids to school to relaxing en route to their destinations to logistical support for opposite-direction commutes.

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“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,” Krafcik wote in a blog post on Medium.

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Riders use the vehicles much as one might call a ride-hailing service, summoning the vehicles via an app that Waymo developed internally, according to a company spokesperson.

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Among companies pursuing self-driving technology, only Volvo has launched a similar effort, recruiting as many as 100 households in and around Gothenburg, Sweden, to use XC90 SUVs equipped with autonomous technology in their everyday travels in geofenced areas. Recruiting for this program, called Drive Me, is underway now, and participants are expected to hit the road later this year.

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It’s unclear how quickly Waymo intends to ramp up its Early Rider testing. The first 100 Pacificas, ordered last spring, arrived in December 2016. After receiving the minivans from Chrysler, Waymo needs to outfit them with its technology, which includes a suite of sensors built in-house and attached to the minivan in a decidedly non-integrated way. The sensor-housing goiters on the front fenders, grilles, and roofs of the Pacificas must make Fiat Chrysler Automobiles design chief Ralph Gilles cringe.

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The fleet expansion nevertheless bodes well for FCA, which has not invested in autonomous technology the way some other automakers have but instead has staked its future mobility fortunes on partnerships like the one with Waymo. In a statement, FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said, “The collaboration between FCA and Waymo has been advantageous for both companies as we continue to work together to fully understand the steps needed to bring self-driving vehicles to market.”

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The Pacifica’s electrical, powertrain, chassis, and structural systems are all modified to accommodate Waymo’s self-driving technology. A group of engineers from both companies, located together in southeast Michigan, collaborated to develop the vehicles. The self-driving vehicles have been tested at FCA’s proving grounds in both Chelsea, Michigan, and Yucca, Arizona.

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• Waymo Chopping Costs from Sensors for Self-Driving Cars

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• Meet the First Family Slated to Get Keys to an Autonomous Volvo XC90

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• Waymo Sues Uber, Alleging Top Exec Stole Self-Driving-Tech Trade Secrets

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Not all 500 of the minivans are destined for Phoenix, although Waymo is not yet saying exactly how many will be used there or revealing the destination for the remaining Pacificas. The  project represents a big win for Arizona, which has aggressively courted pilot projects using self-driving vehicles. When California revoked the registrations of Uber’s autonomous vehicles following a public standoff in December, the company relocated some of its testing to Arizona. Ford and General Motors’ Cruise Automation both test in Arizona, as does Local Motors, a company that, among other things, is producing autonomous shuttles.

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