Fiat's Driverless Cars in Collaboration with Google

Driverless cars are getting closer to commercialization every day, with Google currently leading the work on them. The company has decided to collaborate with Fiat to bring this project closer to commercialization. Fiat and Google have agreed to produce a driverless car, focusing primarily on collaboration with Chrysler, a subsidiary of Fiat. Following a crisis in the Chrysler automotive group, which includes Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge, this group has come under the ownership of the Fiat Group in Italy. The Fiat Group includes brands such as Fiat, Ferrari, Maserati, Iveco, Alfa Romeo, and Lancia. According to AFP, to start the project, work will begin on 100 Fiat cars, with Fiat providing 100 of its vehicles along with an engineering team to Google's technical team. The cars to be used in this project are the Pacifica model, which is considered a minivan and indicates that Google's investment in driverless cars is shifting from smaller vehicles to larger ones. The Chrysler Pacifica was first introduced as a mid-size crossover at the New York Auto Show in 2002. Production of this vehicle, which was the first product of the DaimlerChrysler engineering collaboration, was halted in 2008 until it was unveiled as a new minivan at the Detroit Auto Show in 2016 after an 8-year absence. The Fiat-Chrysler group, with its significant investment in the Pacifica, aims to capture at least a quarter of this booming market. But why did Google choose the Pacifica? Currently, the Pacifica is one of the cheapest minivans in the world, offering more features than its competitors despite its lower price. With the Pacifica becoming driverless, large families in North America could access a suitable family vehicle. This vehicle, with its 3,600 cc engine, produces 273 horsepower. The price of the Pacifica is around $29,000, and if the driverless model can be commercialized at a price close to $30,000 to $35,000, it would represent a significant shift in the automotive market. Currently, besides Google and Fiat, various companies are working on driverless cars. Tesla has also made significant strides in the commercialization of driverless vehicles. Alongside Tesla, other companies like Nissan and General Motors are actively working on driverless cars. Nissan's driverless car, which is undergoing testing, scans up to 200 meters ahead with radar and uses various laser sensors to examine its surroundings. A rear radar scans the road up to 70 meters behind the vehicle. This car can scan street lines and traffic signs and respond to traffic light commands. In a test at 60 km/h, a doll representing a pedestrian is suddenly thrown in front of the car, and the vehicle swerves to avoid a collision. It can easily park in the most challenging parking spots. Some of these technologies are now being used in expensive cars; for example, BMW has implemented an automatic parking system in its new 7 Series model. The next step in this technology is the use of artificial intelligence in driverless cars, an idea that could effectively turn a car into a vehicle with a smart and professional driver. However, this attractive idea may also pose risks, one of which is the uprising of smart cars against humans. Another risk is that if cars become capable enough, hacking them could become problematic. Currently, the infiltration of computers and the internet into vehicles has created some issues. Imagine a car suddenly being hacked by a hacker and thrown into the bottom of a valley. This incident, while not as severe, occurred recently. In July 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fined Fiat Chrysler $105 million because its vehicles were hackable. About 1.4 million Jeep vehicles had software that was easily hackable. Ultimately, Jeep had to recall these vehicles to update the software so that hackers could no longer exploit them. The situation began when two hackers managed to hack a Jeep to the extent that the car's air conditioning operated at maximum capacity without the driver's consent. The car's sound system also played the hackers' selected music at full volume. The situation became even more dangerous when these two engineers were able to take control of the car's engine and infiltrate the car's engine computer. This Jeep model has a parking assist system, and by infiltrating this system, the hackers were able to drive the car remotely. Critics of driverless cars argue that these new vehicles will make human life even more dependent on computers and machines. The risks posed by computers and hackers are significant drawbacks of driverless cars. Another issue is that if the computers in these vehicles become intelligent, human control may be significantly diminished.