The ties within Silicon Valley and Detroit continue to enhance. Google has formally revealed it will open a new self-driving innovation advancement center in Novi, Mich., a suburban area outside of Detroit.
” For the past couple of years, members of our group have been working from the Greater Detroit area. Now it’s time to put down roots,” the tech service announced on its Google+ page. “A lot of our current partners are based here, so having a regional center will help us team up more quickly.”
Google states it will start moving into the 53,000 square-foot center this year. Once the company is all moved in, it will instantly start work on the self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans as part of its collaboration with Fiat Chrysler. According to the deal tattooed earlier this month, Chrysler will establish and build 100 minivans to accommodate the self-driving tech from Google. The firms want to have the minivans ready by the end of the year.
Regardless of the deal with FCA, Google has explained that it’s open to dealing with other auto companies. Ford, for instance, is supposedly near finalizing a collaboration with Google. Both services are investing heavily in autonomous vehicles and recently joined a coalition (along with Volvo, Uber, and Lyft) to assist author and speed up federal policies for the new innovation.
In addition to FCA, Google has a variety of other partners found around Detroit. Livonia-based Roush Enterprises, for instance, was opted to build Google’s self-driving automobile prototypes that are now evaluating onpublic roads in Austin, Texas and near the service’s head office in Silicon Valley.
