Waymo buying 20,000 electric Jaguar SUVs for driverless ride-hailing service

NEW YORK — Waymo, the company that grew of out of Google’s self-driving car project, announced a deal to buy up to 20,000 electric cars over the next two years, a move that shows the scope of its ambition when it comes to driverless ride-hailing services.

The company said it planned to buy the electric version of a Jaguar SUV, the I-Pace, to create its fleet of cars. The vehicles would then be fitted with components to make them capable of piloting themselves without a driver. The company says the fleet would be capable of handling one million rides a day.

For now, Waymo chief executive officer John Krafcik said at the vehicle’s introduction here ahead of the New York International Auto Show that driverless vehicle service will start using the existing fleet in a 100-square-mile section of Phoenix with plans to expand in the city. He wouldn’t disclose what other cities may be next for Waymo.

Jaguar Land Rover plans to start delivering the vehicles in 2020. The consumer version of the I-Pace comes to showrooms later this year — without the self-driving gear.

The deal could give Waymo extra cachet with riders, since the Jaguar I-Pace comes from a luxury brand. And for Jaguar Land Rover, the arrangement gives it a ready market for the new electric SUV, a key advantage at a time when electric vehicles in the U.S. still make up a tiny fraction of sales.

Automakers are under pressure to offer vehicles like the I-Pace as a way to offset the sales of thirsty conventional SUVs, helping to keep their corporate average fuel economy below federal limits.

Krafcik lauded the I-Pace’s powerful battery, which Jaguar says is capable of 386 kilometres of range in the consumer version.

Krafcik said the I-Pace is only one of the vehicles that Waymo will be using. It also currently employs Chrysler minivans in its self-driving tests in Phoenix. The Jaguar vehicles, like the Pacificas, will bear the Waymo logo and be part of its coming ridehailing network.

Yet Krafcik insisted that Jaguar has a financial stake in the deal. “It’s a real partnership,” Krafcik said. “You’ll see aspects of that going forward.”

In September, Bloomberg reported that Jaguar Land Rover was weighing purchases of technology companies that could boost its efforts to roll out electric vehicles and autonomous driving systems.

In June, the automaker said it had invested $25 million in ride-hailing company Lyft as part of a funding round that closed in April. The company also said it’s working with Lyft on autonomousdriving technology and will offer vehicles for rent to the San Francisco-based startup’s drivers. Waymo has also announced a partnership with Lyft.

The partnership with Jaguar could also potentially put Waymo ahead of Uber and Lyft, established ride-hailing services that also have been trying to develop driverless technology.

There are risks as driverless technology develops. One of Uber’s test cars hit and killed a 49-yearold woman walking a bicycle across a street in Tempe, Ariz. The accident occurred even though a “safety driver” was behind the wheel and was supposed to intercede if the technology failed. Arizona’s governor halted Uber’s testing.

Waymo, however, is pressing ahead despite the controversy around the safety of driverless cars. It says, in fact, that it is the only company testing driverless cars on public roads with no one in the front seat.

The company has said its focus is developing and deploying driverless technology, rather than becoming an automaker.

The deal to develop I-Pace in conjunction with Jaguar Land Rover is one of several in which tech companies and automakers are rushing to develop self-driving cars.