Jaguar I-Pace goes SELF-DRIVING with Waymo

By 2022, there could be as many as 20,000 electric vehicles able to conduct about one million trips a day. Waymo is testing the service around Phoenix, Arizona, with a fleet of self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minvans and Lexus 450h SUVs.

Jaguar has taken to the Monaco Grand Prix circuit to showcase the performance and handling of its first electric vehicle (EV), the I-PACE. Still, partnering with a mainstream automaker has clear scaling advantages to Waymo, which is predicting as many as 20,000 self-driving I-PACE to be deployed in just the first two years.

For its part, Waymo has recently crossed the 5 million self-driven miles mark, a massive distance made even more massive when combined with the 5 billion simulated miles its cars have driven in the virtual world. The two companies said they've agreed to work together on a huge fleet of electric SUVs fitted with Waymo's self-driving technology. By the end of this year, the company's autonomous minivans will begin providing service to anyone who wants to ride in them instead of limiting service to so-called "Early Riders" participating in the tests for the program.

Waymo unveiled the auto, called the I-PACE, at a press event at Chelsea Piers in New York City.

Waymo has already tested its autonomous technology in 25 USA cities, and adding thousands more Pacifica Hybrids and 20,000 Jaguars will support the expansion of its service.

"This new self-driving Jaguar I-PACE blends Jaguar's knack for innovative design with Waymo's cutting-edge self-driving technology, designed and developed completely in-house", the company reports in the release.

Krafcik also noted that Waymo is on the verge of "shifting focus from research and development to operations". The company also said it's working with Lyft on autonomous-driving technology and will offer vehicles for rent to the San Francisco-based startup's drivers.

Uber immediately suspended all testing of driverless cars and said it is "fully cooperating" with authorities. "That's the world we're building", the company said.

Later this year Waymo will launch the world's first self-driving transportation service allowing members of the public to use Waymo's app to request a vehicle.