But the Firefly had some drawbacks, like a top speed of 25 mph. That’s great when you’re working out the very basics of autonomous driving, but it’s not enough for most real-world streets.

Waymo Firefly and Chrysler Pacifica autonomous vehicles. Image Credits: Waymo. The lowly minivan seemed to represent a more grounded realistic vision toward the goal.

Dubbed the "Firefly" internally, it also became commonly known as the Google Car. Oh So Cute and Functional The adorable-looking, two-passenger minicar was first exposed to the public in 2014.

Waymo, the former self-driving unit under Google, charmed the world a couple years ago when it deployed a bubble-shaped driverless car called “Firefly” on the public roads of San Francisco.

Waymo, with its deep pockets and a team of 2,100 employees, remains in the lead. ... But Mr. Krafcik points out that Waymo had already tried to build a customized vehicle with the Firefly, ...

Rikard Grunnan is Waymo's Head of Technical Fleet Operations, based on Mountain View, California.; He joined what was then known as the Google Car project in 2011 and hired to build self-driving ...

Figure 2: Waymo Firefly (Source: Waymo) Waymo takes a more modular approach to its self-driving technology than companies like Tesla, Inc. . While AI is used in the tech stack, ...

Waymo unveiled its new electric AV, a steering-wheel-less people mover made in collaboration with Geely’s Zeekr. The new vehicle made its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Waymo is trying to reinvent the act of driving. Behind miles of black-clad chain-linked fencing in a remote area of central California, the self-driving car company, started as part of Google, has ...

Guiding Light: Why Google’s Hand-Built, Fully Autonomous "Firefly" Mattered. The Google Car is destined to be remembered as one of the most future-forward prototypes ever .