Self-driving minivan reportedly coming from Fiat Chrysler and Google

Google’s new round of self-driving prototypes will be ready for soccer practice.

A report from Bloomberg claims that we’ll soon see a self-driving car deal between Google and FiatChrysler. The two companies are reportedly teaming up for a new round of self-driving car prototypesusing a minivan, the Chrysler Pacifica.

The report describes the Pacifica as “the first phase of a joint project” to create self-driving cars. FiatChrysler would equip the Pacifica with Google’s autonomous tech “starting this year.” Bloomberg saysthe deal would not be exclusive for either company, allowing both to pursue other partners.

If the report turns out to be true, going with minivans would be an interesting choice. Google’snewest self-driving prototype is a tiny two-seater the company designed itself. The 2017 ChryslerPacifica is a comparatively giant vehicle that seats seven people. Google’s self-driving fleet alsocontains several Lexus RX450Hs and Toyota Priuses, making the Pacifica the company’s largestautonomous car. We were really hoping for a Fiat 500 mod, as it looks like a close cousin of Google’scustom cars.

At the North American International Auto Show, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed thecompany had “continuing conversations going on in Silicon Valley” when asked about Google andApple. Google has stated multiple times it does not want to become a car manufacturer, making a dealwith an existing auto maker a necessity.

The last Google/auto maker team-up we heard about was via a Yahoo Autos report that claimedGoogle and Ford were going to partner on self-driving cars. The terms of that supposed deal sounded alot like this one—Google’s technology deal was “nonexclusive,” allowing it to seek other partners. Thatreport said the Google-Ford deal would be announced at CES 2016, but no announcement followed,calling into question the accuracy of the report.

Bloomberg says this deal would be Google’s first with a car maker. The report also says Google alsotried to ink a deal with General Motors, but the deal fell through over “disagreements over ownership oftechnology and data.” Bloomberg says we could see the official Google/Fiat Chrysler announcement asearly as today.