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Ford and Google could team up to produce autonomous cars by 2020
Google's self-driving car is pictured here during trials from earlier this year. Now Ford Motors may partner with the internet technology company to develop self-driving cars on a commercial scale. – AFP file pic, December 23, 2015.Ford and Google could announce a self-driving car partnership at CES 2016 in Las Vegas, reports Yahoo! Autos.
It's reported that this new joint venture would begin production of a 100% autonomous car by 2020. This partnership could be announced at CES 2016, which will be held in Las Vegas in the US from January 6 to 9.
It's worth noting that the former Ford CEO Alan Mulally has been a member of Google's board since 2014. The door is also open to other manufacturers to work together on this ambitious project to which Google will contribute all its leading-edge technology, while Ford has the facilities to mass produce this type of vehicle.
While Google has been testing its self-driving cars in California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada for a long time, Ford decided to put its research into practice in the streets of Mcity, a 32-hectare simulated city built on the University of Michigan's campus, in Ann Arbor.
This car operates using numerous sensors which explore its surrounding environment within a range of several tens of meters, and are able to detect the smallest obstacles, including other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, animals, etc.
The various prototypes of entirely autonomous cars developed by Google have proven to be extremely reliable and relatively safe, with only 11 minor accidents recorded for nearly 3 million kilometers traveled in 6 years. None of these incidents were directly attributable to the autonomous car.
Many other automakers including Audi, Volvo, Mercedes, Nissan and Tesla, are working on their own autonomous systems. There are persistent but as yet unconfirmed rumors that even Apple is working hard on a fully autonomous electric car. – AFP-Relaxnews, December 23, 2015.
CES 2016 runs from January 6 to 9, in Las Vegas: cesweb.org
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