World's First Level 4 Autonomous Vehicle Factory Planned for Michigan

Waymo, not General Motors, is brining automobile manufacturing back to Michigan.

1 minute read

January 24, 2019, 8:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Autonomous Vehicles

Sundry Photography / Shutterstock

"Waymo announced it has received approval from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) to open an autonomous vehicle (AV) factory in Michigan," reports Katie Pyzyk.

"It said this will be the world's first factory solely dedicated to manufacturing level 4 AVs," adds Pyzyk.

The announcement from the MEDC provides additional details beyond those shared by Waymo. The MEDC announced that the "company plans to invest $13.6 million and create 100 jobs over the next several years, with the potential for up to 400 jobs," reports Pyzyk.

Delivered at market scale, Level 4 automation would represent a significant step forward for the autonomous vehicle industry. (SAE International, an automotive standardization body, published descriptions of the five levels of automation in 2014. The National Highway Safety Administration has also adopted this rating system.) The news would seem to provide a bit of good news for the industry after a year of bad news and setbacks.

Wednesday, January 23, 2019 in Smart Cities Dive

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