Waymo’s self-driving technology is so advanced, why doesn’t it build its own cars?

How to build a perfect self-driving car?

Some companies choose to start by building a new car. For example, Tesla is developing its autonomous driving technology step by step in the process of developing new models; and Zoox, headquartered in Silicon Valley, has also stated that it will produce a driverless car equipped with driverless technology.

In fact, Waymo, the self-driving subsidiary of Google's parent company Alphabet, also launched a bubble-shaped self-driving car called "Firefly" a few years ago, and officially deployed it on public roads in San Francisco. However, in 2017, Waymo announced the termination of the production plan of the self-driving prototype and changed the company's development strategy, deciding not to produce cars anymore.

In this regard, the outside world has speculated on the reasons. Recently, Patrick Cadariu, director of Waymo's automotive supply chain, said in an interview that the main reason is that "making cars is really difficult", and for a company without a manufacturing background, producing cars may distract its attention.

As the saying goes, "If you are not specialized, you are not professional. If you are not specialized, you cannot succeed." The key to success in any field is to be specialized. Waymo's "specialization" lies in its all-out research on autonomous driving technology, rather than manufacturing cars. Patrick Cadariu emphasized, "Our goal is not to produce cars, but to produce the most experienced drivers in the world (autonomous driving cars). This is our core mission. Since some companies are very good at producing cars, we are also willing to cooperate with them."

At present, mainstream automakers such as Tesla, GM and Volkswagen are also developing autonomous driving technology on their own. Waymo is far away from the complex automobile manufacturing industry, which has alleviated the troubles caused by mutual competition to a certain extent and allowed it to focus more on developing autonomous driving software and sensors for installation in cars produced by other manufacturers. In April this year, the company also announced that it would lease the old factory of American Axle & Manufacturing to modify the Jaguar I-Pace and Chrysler Pacifica with the latest autonomous driving system.

It is precisely because of its focus on R&D technology that Waymo has achieved remarkable results in transforming its development strategy in the past few years.

1 Entering the "first echelon" of the autonomous driving strength rankings
In 2018, the consulting firm Navigant Research released the 2017 autonomous driving rankings. At that time, Waymo was ranked second behind GM. After announcing the suspension of its car manufacturing plan, in 2019, in the 2018 autonomous driving rankings released by the consulting firm Navigant Research, Waymo successfully surpassed GM and not only became a "first echelon" autonomous driving player, but also won the championship.

2. Commercialization of autonomous driving
As we all know, no company has yet launched large-scale commercial autonomous driving services. However, at the end of 2018, Waymo officially launched its self-driving taxi paid service – Waymo One – to the public in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Although the paid service is only available in a small area, it is also a major milestone in the commercialization of autonomous driving.

In April 2019, Waymo also launched its online ride-hailing app on the Google Play Store for Android users. In July this year, Waymo successfully obtained approval from California regulators to use its own self-driving cars to transport passengers, but the company is not allowed to charge fees and the driver must be equipped with a human safety officer. Although it is not a commercial service, it will help it expand the scale of its commercial self-driving services.

3. Big names in the travel industry have cooperated with Waymo.
Waymo's autonomous driving technology has also won the favor of many companies. In May this year, Lyft announced its cooperation with Waymo and put 10 Waymo autonomous driving cars on its platform for Lyft users in the Phoenix area to use autonomous driving online car-hailing services. A month later, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance also signed an agreement with Waymo on the commercialization of autonomous driving vehicles, which will help Waymo carry out autonomous driving services in France and Japan to realize the early implementation of autonomous driving commercialization.

4 Autonomous driving simulation test mileage reaches 16.1 billion kilometers
In July this year, Waymo announced that its autonomous driving simulation test mileage reached 10 billion miles (about 16.1 billion kilometers), indicating that its autonomous driving software has gained considerable experience. Waymo Chief Technology Officer Dmitri Dolgov also said that Waymo's autonomous driving software has also traveled more than 10 million miles (about 16.1 million kilometers) in the real world, which shows that Waymo has always been at the forefront of the industry in terms of autonomous driving technology.

In an era where everyone advocates for diversified technology routes, being able to focus on developing autonomous driving technology and pushing it to the extreme may be the right approach to promote the early implementation of fully autonomous driving. As Cadariu said, "Autonomous driving technology companies need to be clear about their core capabilities and advantages and focus on solving problems that need to be solved."