Google-bred Waymo aims to shift robotic cars into next gear

ATWATER, Calif. — Google’s self-driving car spin-off is accelerating efforts to convince the public that its technology is almost ready to safely transport people without any human assistance at all. Waymo, hatched from a Google project started eight years ago, showed off its progress Monday during a rare peek at a closely guarded testing facility 120 miles southeast of San Francisco. That’s where its robots complete their equivalent of driver’s education.

The tour included giving more than three dozen reporters rides in Chrysler Pacifica minivans travelling through faux neighbourhoods and expressways that Waymo has built on a former Air Force base located in the Californian Central Valley city of Atwater.

The minivans smoothly cruised the roads — driver’s seat empty and passengers in the back — at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. By contrast, the Waymo-powered Pacifica minivans that have been driving volunteer riders in the Phoenix area still use safety drivers to take over control if something goes wrong.

But Waymo’s real goal is to the point where people in cars are nothing but passengers.

Waymo CEO John Krafcik told reporters the company will make some cars and freight trucks totally driverless fairly soon, though he didn’t provide a specific timetable.

“We are really close,” he said. “We are going to do it when we feel like we are ready.” Since Google began working on self-driving cars in 2009, dozens of established automaker such as General Motors and Ford Motors have entered the race, along with other big technology companies, including Apple and ride-hailing service Uber.