Though still in its early life, the technology behind autonomous cars has been widely adopted in some form across the automotive industry. Automakers at home and abroad have dabbled in creating self-driving vehicles, touting them as safer alternatives for the future. However this week, Chrysler has made a move to put itself at the forefront of the autonomous car movement, partnering with Google's Self Driving Car Project to create 100 new autonomous 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid prototypes.
This could potentially mean a huge step forward, both for Chrysler and Google. Prior to this collaboration, Google had to purchase the cars it wanted to retrofit for autonomous driving. By moving part of its team to Michigan, Google not only gets access to 100 advanced Pacifica Hybrid minivans, it also gets to work directly with the Chrysler engineers to build a self-driving prototype practically from the ground up.
We likely won't see autonomous Pacifica Hybrids on the road for the next couple of years, but with the advanced driver assistive features and array of video and radar sensors that the Pacifica Hybrid already uses, this minivan is probably one of the closest vehicles to autonomy on the road today! So if you'd like to get behind the wheel of one of the smartest minivans to ever hit the road, visit us at Bob Allen Chrysler Dodge Jeep & RAM for a test drive today!