Google to call self-driving car a Waymo
Google's self-driving car project has graduated from the tech giant's incubator and is dubbed Waymo.
The company has completed about 3 million miles of human-occupant public road testing with the pod-like vehicles that are navigated without a steering wheel or pedals.
"We're close to bringing this to a lot of people," said John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo. "We're kind of at an inflection point."
Asked about a report that Waymo eventually will introduce a steering wheel and pedals, Krafcik said the company is open to that modification.
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"Today there isn't necessarily a clear path to mass production of self-driving cars without steering wheels, given NHTSA regulations," Krafcik said, referring to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal safety regulator that currently requires those types of controls in a vehicle.
In a media presentation today in San Francisco, Waymo highlighted Steve Mahan, a former director of the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center, who rode in the car for the first time on public streets in Austin, Texas, in October 2015. Mahan, who became legally blind in 2004, may become a spokesman for Waymo as it tries to sell vehicles to ride-hailing fleets or other customers.
Krafcik carefully avoided discussing any commercialization of the technology or the vehicles.
Safety will be cited as an advantage, as well as reaching people who are visually impaired or have other disabilities and elderly citizens who are no longer able to drive.
Last year, 35,200 Americans died in traffic accidents, a 7.7% increase from 2014, according to NHTSA research.
The number of traffic deaths jumped another 10.4% to 17,775 in the first six months of this year, according to the agency's preliminary estimate in October.
U.S. motorists are driving more miles because of an improved economy and relatively low gas prices. But the 3.3% increase in miles driven, according to the Federal Highway Administration, is smaller than the corresponding increase in traffic deaths.
Distracted driving is considered one factor in the rise in traffic deaths.
History shows that traffic deaths decline during recessions and tend to rise as the economy strengthens.
Automakers are introducing technologies that enable parents to monitor the driving habits of their teens and modulate volume of audio systems, but there are no options launched yet that deactivate a smartphone when a vehicle is moving.
"We're a self-driving technology company. We're not a car company," said Krafcik. "We're in the business of making safer drivers."
It remains unclear how Waymo plans to take that technology to market. It is working with Fiat Chrysler on developing a fleet of fully autonomous Chrysler Pacifica minivans, which FCA is expected to show next month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Krafcik has been guarded when asked if the company will try to compete with ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft, or just supply them with vehicles.
What is clear is that the company is more confident that the venture, which has been sheltered under the umbrella of Alphabet's experimental tent known as X. Alphabet is Google's parent company.
In addition to safety, Waymo is touting the productivity and quality of life gains its technology promises.
"We spend on average between 50 and 60 minutes in our daily commutes," Krafcik said. "Americans travel about 3 trillion miles a year in their vehicles. That's time that could be spent on a variety of other tasks. And there are just about 300 million vehicles in the country that sit idle about 95% of the time."
Contact Greg Gardner: 313-222-8762 or ggardner@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregGardner12.