Saar: The I-Pace is Jaguar’s first-ever all-electric car and, as per the two parties involved in this tie-up, is ideal for an autonomous transportation setup

As per the gurus of the industry, the future of automobile revolves around the concept of autonomous, connected and all-electric commutes. With many automakers around the world are working to transform the concept into a reality, not many have quite reached their desired targets. But then, as the wise always say – practice makes a man/woman/automaker/etc perfect. Okay, that’s not how the wise always put this forward but you get the point, right! Excellent!

Now. Waymo. It is one of the many sub-brands that Google owns and is surely one with the most promising future. Why? Well, for a start, the company has deep pockets. But most importantly, Waymo has been on the self-driving project since 2009. Nine years down the line, it believes that its version of an autonomous vehicle has reached a level when it can bind it with the second pillar of future mobility. That’s why Waymo has tied-up with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to provide up to 20,000 units of the I-Pace. What second pillar? It is the all-electric, zero-emissions pillar that the I-Pace brings in the equation. Just in case you are wondering, the I-Pace is Jaguar’s first-ever all-electric model, which was officially launched in Europe earlier this month.

Back to Waymo and JLR’s partnership. The announcement came during the ongoing 2018 New York Auto Show. Testing of the vehicle is slated to begin later this year and once all the I-Paces are equipped Waymo’s autonomous tech, the Google-owned company claims that the lot will contribute to about a million trips daily. That’s a bold claim. But then that’s what defines Waymo’s ambitions. It is the only company in the world which has a fleet of fully self-driving cars – with no one in the front seat – on public roads. That alone says a lot.