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Taking a truly driverless ride in Waymo's Chrysler Pacifica

Today was a first for me: I drove in a fully autonomous vehicle on roads without anyone behind the wheel. They weren't public roads, but they did have intersections, other vehicles, pedestrian traffic, cyclists and more, and the car managed a fairly long route without any human intervention — and without any cause for concern on my part. I've done a lot of self-driving vehicle demos, including in Waymo's own previous-generation Lexus test vehicles, so I wasn't apprehensive about being ferried around in Waymo's Chrysler Pacifica minivan to begin with. But the experience still took me by surprise, in terms of just how freeing it was once it became apparent that the car was handling things all on its own, and would continue to do so safely regardless of what else was going on around it. Waymo's test track at Castle (more on that facility here) included multiple intersections with traffic lights, a roundabout, cars stopped on the shoulder, crossing foot band cycle traffic and more. Even if these were staged, they'd be hard to replicate in exact detail every time, so despite the fact that Waymo clearly had more control here than they would out in the real world, the driving experience was still impressive. In particular, one event stuck with me: A squirrel (or other small rodent, I'm no expert on the fauna of Northern California) darted out quickly in front of the car, before turning back off the road – but the vehicle perceptibly slowed in case it needed to avoid it. Barring an incredibly lifelike animatronic, this isn't something Waymo could've planned for. Regarding how it actually works, once in the vehicle and buckled up, a rider taps a button to start the ride, and then displays mounted on the backs of the front seats show a visualization of what the car's sensors see, but selectively simplified and redesigned to draw focus to things that riders find important, and to reassure them about the system's competence and ability to spot all the key variables on the road. This is essentially the same car driving riders around Chandler, in Phoenix, where the current Waymo pilot is operating. It's still essentially a stock Pacifica van, with a premium trim upgrade, but included features in that vehicle, including the many USB ports for charging located throughout, the dual screens mentioned above on the seat backs, and the rear cabin AC and climate controls all make it particularly well suited to the task of putting the rider first.

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2020 Chrysler Pacifica Review & Buying Guide | A marvelous minivan

The 2020 Chrysler Pacifica is one of our favorite minivans, and the plug-in hybrid version, the Pacifica Hybrid, is even better. Roomy, comfortable and — dare we say — stylish, itÂ’s good enough to at least garner consideration from folks who would otherwise not be caught dead driving a minivan. It also offers a ton of standard and optional features to make life better for the driver up front all the way back to the kids seated in the comfy third row. While the well-mannered and techy Honda Odyssey is also worth cross shopping, we think the Pacifica is practical and enjoyable enough that weÂ’d even choose it over a lot of three-row crossovers. What's new for 2020? For the 2020 model year, Chrysler drops the L and LX trims, replacing them with a budget minivan that bears its own nameplate — the Chrysler Voyager — and starts at $28,480. That means the cheapest Pacifica you can get is the Limited trim, starting at $35,240. There are also a few extra features added here and there to the various trim levels, but nothing major apart from the flashy Red S Appearance Package available on the Limited versions of both the Pacifica and Pacifica Hybrid. This gets red and black Nappa leather upholstery, grey contrast stitching and piping, some red S emblems inside and out black 20-inch alloy wheels (18-inch on the Hybrid), Harman Kardon sound system and an advanced safety package. There are more significant changes in store of the Pacifica later this year when the 2021 model arrives, including some design tweaks and the addition of available all-wheel drive. What's the Pacifica interior and in-car technology like? The Pacifica interior is a lovely place to spend time. Up front, thereÂ’s plenty of room to stretch out, and lots of places to stash items within easy reach. WeÂ’re big fans of the huge cupholders, which are capacious enough to house two 32-ounce Nalgene water bottles side by side. The materials are nice, with good attention to detail. We were quite fond of the perforated leather seats, smooth leather steering wheel and attractive stitching in our long-term Pacifica Hybrid tester. As for tech, thereÂ’s plenty, and itÂ’s good. We like the big multimedia touchscreen in the center stack, and find this iteration of ChryslerÂ’s Uconnect multimedia system to be intuitive and responsive. The Pacifica offers a number of helpful driver aids, including adaptive cruise control and plenty of parking cameras.