Jaguar and Google are Developing an Electric Driverless Vehicle
Jaguar Land Rover is to supply up to 20,000 of its new electric I-Pace cars to Waymo, a subsidiary of Google owner Alphabet,to be converted into self-driving vehicles for its ride-hailing service.
The tie-up, worth up to £1.3bn and announced at the New York motor show, is a further mark of Waymo's ambition in the race with Uber and others to develop a driverless ride-hailing service - as well as a huge boost for Britain's biggest car manufacturer as it takes it first steps into electric vehicles.
Jaguar will deliver vehicles for Waymo's ride-hailing service from 2020. Waymosays the 20,000 I-Pace models will provide up to 1m rides a day.
Although the I-Pace will be produced in Graz, Austria, JLR stressed that it is a British designed and engineered vehicle, from its research and development facility in the West Midlands.
JLR, owned by Indian company Tata, did not put a price on the deal, but an I-Pace, launched less than a month ago, retails at about £63,000 in the UK.
The manufacturer said it would be "a long-term strategic partnership" to develop the world's first premium self-driving electric vehicle. Testing of the Jaguar car, equipped with Waymo's self-driving technology, will start in Arizona later this year.
The expansion of the service comes despite fresh fears raised over the safety of self-driving cars, after an autonomous Uber car killed a pedestrian in Arizona last week - the first such casualty.
Uber's testing of vehicles in Arizona has been suspended after the incident. The victim, a 49-year-old woman wheeling a bicycle, appeared not to be detected by the vehicle's sensors. The Volvo was operating autonomously with a back-up driver in the front seat when it struck the pedestrian.
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