The autonomous ridesharing future is growing ever closer as manufacturers from all over the world are preparing to unleash their own self-driving fleet of taxis. Ford has announced a full-fleet by 2021. General Motors has set up Maven, its own ridesharing service. Rather that develop their own network, Daimler, parent company of Mercedes-Benz, has announced a partnership that will supply Uber's routes with Daimler-built autonomous cars.
The agreement is the second Uber has signed with a car firm, having partnered with Volvo in August 2016 to retrofit a fleet of XC90 SUVs with Uber’s autonomous technology. The deal with Daimler, however, is different. Uber said that rather than building self-driving vehicles itself, it would instead partner with auto manufacturers. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick explained the partnership should help the ridesharing company introduce self-driving cars sooner than planned. He added that car manufacturers like Daimler are crucial to their strategy because Uber has no experience making cars, because making cars is really hard.
Daimler’s self-driving project is, as with many of its rivals, in its infancy. Mercedes-Benz will get the next generation of its Drive Pilot system this summer. Daimler has also been testing its own fleet of self-driving trucks. But fully-autonomous cars remain some way off; the company hopes to launch its first vehicle in 2020.
