It seems Uber is not alone in its attempt to create autonomous driving vehicles and bring them to roads with no compromise on safety and effectiveness. Toyota, one of the most popular car manufacturers, has tied up with Uber to create autonomous driving vehicles. As a part of the signed agreement, Toyota will be making an investment of $500 Million as well. The investment, when combined with the valuable experience Toyota has in the world of manufacturing, is expected to help Uber to perfect the autonomous vehicle. With $500 Million investment in effect, the value of Uber has gone up to $72 Billion.
There are some interesting tie-ups in the agreement signed by Uber and Toyota. For instance, Toyota Sienna mini-wans will have the autonomous driving tech integrated to them. These vehicles will be a part of User-based network as well. Once integrated and ready to run, the Uber-tech-equipped Sienna wans can be given to fleet managers for regular use. For Uber, however, the Toyota agreement will be helpful in cutting down the development costs. Since Uber had to shut down some of the development centers in Arizona, US among others, there will be challenges, and Toyota can be a huge help.
Toyota is not the only vehicle manufacturer to make investments in tech companies like Uber. Recently, GM had made an investment in Lyft, which is also working on an automated driving system. There were also an immense bunch of deals between manufacturers and tech companies, all promising better transportation as well as the convenience perks. When one of these technologies is ready to roll, Uber will not have to pay for drivers, which would cut down the costs very much. That having said, even recently, the Uber self-driving tech have been causing accidents and deaths, making users and authorities skeptical, even about testing.
Carolyn is a technology graduate and loves to write about anything related to technology as well as writes in others sectors. Carolyn is a professional writer with over 7 years of experience. Initially starting off as a programmer, Carolyn decided to combine her knowledge about technology and writing and that’s how she joined Reporter Expert.