John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo and a keynote speaker at this year’s National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Show in Las Vegas, Nev., ended the second of the three-day event with a discussion about autonomous vehicles and their place in society.
Krafcik, who was the head of TrueCar and President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, took the helm at Google’s former self-driving car project in 2015.
Since then, he has set up partnerships with Lyft and Fiat Chrysler, and has implemented Level 4 autonomous vehicle technology into a fleet of Chrysler Pacifica minivans that are currently operating in Phoenix, Ariz.
The taxi-style service transports children to school, and adults from home to work or the local shopping mall, for example. “This is a little bit of how the future of transportation will look like. I don’t know how you feel about that, but there’s no one in the driver’s seat,” said Krafcik.
When considering the impact that ride sharing continues to have on consumers, Krafcik says the percentage of retail versus fleet will change, in that more people will opt for services like Lyft — who are buying more cars. He also notes that the majority of consumers will not be able to afford these types of vehicles, but will still want to experience them. “Because the technology is so expensive, it makes sense to put it into ride sharing cars so people can use it,” says Krafcik.
Waymo’s vehicles use Level 4 autonomous technology, which means the car is capable of driving without a safety driver. The only limitation is the geographic zone. Level 5 allows you to “drive anywhere, at any time, in any weather,” according to Krafcik.
The tragic circumstances of a recent fatal accident with an autonomous vehicle was also brought up during the presentation at NADA. Driverless cars have been placed under a microscope following a collision involving an Uber Technologies SUV and a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz. The crash resulted in the death of a woman.
“The company was founded on the principles of safety for all, and we have dedicated ourselves (to do that),” said Krafcik, in response to the issue.
Mike Jackson, CEO of AutoNation, joined Krafcik on stage to further the discussion about driverless cars and its growing place in the industry.
The NADA Show 2018 runs from March 23-25 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre in Nevada.
