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Waymo celebrates 5M autonomous miles with 360-degree video

Its fleet drives as many miles in a day as you will drive in an entire year.

Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
Andrew Krok
Waymo

Waymo has reached one heck of a milestone in its autonomous-vehicle development, and to celebrate, it wants to bring you along for the ride.

Waymo announced today that its fleet of self-driving vehicles has logged over 5 million autonomous miles on public roads. It noted that the first million miles took six years to reach, but this last million took only three months. The fleet's daily mileage is equal to what the average adult drives in an entire year.

That doesn't even count simulations, which Waymo is running constantly. In 2017, its software "drove" 2.7 billion miles. That's roughly the distance between Earth and Neptune. Neptune.

Anyway, the Google spinoff's seen fit to celebrate with a VR-ready video. It'll take you for a roof-mounted ride in one of Waymo's autonomous Chrysler Pacificas, offering up an idea of how its vehicles navigate crowded streets without smashing into everything. After that, the 360-degree video heads inside the car to give you an idea of what Waymo's passengers will experience during its public pilot.

Waymo announced late last year that it would start a public ride-hailing program without a human driver as backup. Limited to a section of the Phoenix area for now, the company will offer regular Joes and Janes the chance to take a ride in a Level 4 self-driving vehicle. Provided public trials go well, Waymo will eventually introduce its own autonomous mobility service.

Waymo's autonomous Pacifica cruising through Castle

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