Fiat Chrysler partners with Aurora to develop standalone commercial vans – TechCrunch



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Two years ago, FCA announced the production of approximately 100 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid mini-vans integrated into Waymo's self-driving software and software suite. Waymo uses these stand-alone mini-vans for testing as well as for its Waymo One self-drive business in the Phoenix area. The autonomous vehicles used in the Waymo One service always have a human safety driver behind the wheel.

FCA and Waymo have strengthened their relationship in 2018, announcing that it would provide Waymo up to 62,000 additional Chrysler Pacifica minivans.

Unlike Waymo, Aurora has never publicly announced its intention to launch a robotaxi service. Instead, it focuses on supplying and then integrating its stand-alone battery to companies wishing to deploy autonomous vehicles or services.

Aurora, created in early 2017 by Sterling Anderson, Drew Bagnell and Chris Urmson, has integrated its technology into six vehicle platforms, including sedans, SUVs, minivans, a large utility vehicle and a class 8 truck.

Aurora is just months away from the announcement of its hefty $ 530 million Series B, which was directed by Sequoia Capital and included a "significant investment" from Amazon and T. Rowe Price Associates. The ride pushed Aurora's valuation to more than 2.5 billion dollars. Aurora announced a $ 90 million Series A round last February Greylock Partners and Index Ventures, bringing its total amount so far to more than $ 620 million.

The company has offices in Palo Alto, San Francisco and Pittsburgh and has announced partnerships with the Volkswagen Group, Hyundai and the Chinese start-up of Byton electric vehicles.

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