Tech giant Google and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced Tuesday a partnership that will test Google's self-driving car program in 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivans.
DETROIT, MI - Tech giant Alphabet and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced Tuesday a partnership that will test Google's self-driving car program in 2017 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans.
The companies will co-locate part of their engineering team to a site in southeast Michigan as part of the partnership, FCA said. A company spokeswoman declined to say where the facility would be located.
FCA will design and engineer about 100 minivans specifically for Google's self-driving technology, essentially doubling Google's fleet of such vehicles.
The collaboration marks the first time Google is working directly with an automaker on its seven-year-old self-driving car program.
"Working with Google provides an opportunity for FCA to partner with one of the world's leading technology companies to accelerate the pace of innovation in the automotive industry," FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said in a release. "The experience both companies gain will be fundamental to delivering automotive technology solutions that ultimately have far-reaching consumer benefits."
Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed, and there is no licensing agreement preventing either company from working with someone else, the Associated Press reported.
Google has been testing its self-driving cars in four U.S. cities in California, Texas, Washington and Arizona. The Pacifica hybrid minivans will first be tested on the company's private test track in California before they hit public roads, FCA said.
Google said its self-driving car program aims to bring mobility to the millions of people who cannot drive. The company also sees it as a potentially life-saving development that could help prevent some of the some 33,000 traffic deaths that occur each year in the U.S.
"While the actual Google-Fiat Chrysler collaboration on self-driving vehicles is less expansive than rumored, it's still good news, particularly for Fiat Chrysler," said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst for Autotrader.
Krebs added that FCA thus far had little development in the way of autonomous and connected vehicles, so a partner was welcome, especially one as far along in such development as Google.
"The high visibility the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid will receive being part of Google's self-driving fleet is a good advertisement for a vehicle that is so important to the automaker," Krebs said.
FCA revealed the all-new Chrysler Pacifica minivan in Detroit last January. The hybrid version, which Chrysler is calling the first hybrid minivan, has a 16-kWh lithium-ion battery that delivers an estimated 30 miles of zero-emissions electric power.
In city driving, that hybrid powertrain is expected to deliver a respectable 80 miles per gallon equivalent, or MPGe, based on EPA standards.
The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica is being built at FCA's Windsor Assembly Plant in Windsor, Ontario. It's set to arrive at dealerships in spring 2016.
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.