UPDATED 14:38 EDT / FEBRUARY 27 2018

EMERGING TECH

Ford’s autonomous vehicles to hit the roads in Miami

As Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo division and other players from the tech industry expand their autonomous vehicle operations, the traditional automakers in the self-driving car race are revving up their efforts as well.

In the latest development, Ford Motor Co. today revealed plans to deploy not one but two self-driving fleets in the Miami metropolitan area. The first will consist of Fusion Hybrids powered by autonomous navigation software courtesy of Argo AI Inc., a startup that has received a $1 billion investment from the automaker. The second fleet is made up of multiple unspecified vehicle models and will be tasked with making deliveries.

At first, however, the latter vehicles will have human drivers. According to the company, that’s because the initial goal is to collect data about the potential logistical challenges involved in making deliveries with an autonomous vehicle. The company is aiming to roll out autonomous delivery vehicles by 2021.

The other, self-driving fleet will provide ride-hailing hailing services. Sherif Marakby, Ford’s vice president of autonomous vehicles and electrification, told Recode that his company is working to add integration with Lyft Inc.’s app as part of a partnership announced last September.

Ford has built a service center near downtown Miami to service the self-driving cars. In a blog post, Marakby detailed that the hub will handle most of everything from cleaning to maintenance and sensor calibration.

The other players in the self-driving car race are also setting up support infrastructure for their autonomous fleets. Waymo in November inked a deal with AutoNation Inc., a leading car dealer, to service its autonomous vehicles. The group earlier struck an agreement with Avis Budget Group Inc. to use the latter’s rental facilities for carrying out repairs.

Another detail that Waymo has taken steps to address is passenger insurance. The Alphabet subsidiary is collaborating with a startup called Trov Inc. to provide free coverage for users who take rides in its self-driving vehicles.

Image: Ford

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