Dallas is competing to become the site of Ford and Argo AI next autonomous vehicle facility
Dallas is competing to become the site of Ford and Argo AI's next autonomous vehicle facility
As reported by the Dallas Morning News, the city's council members will vote on Wednesday on whether to approve an economic development agreement with Ford, in hopes of becoming the site of the automaker's next autonomous vehicle manufacturing facility.
In order to commercialize Argo AI's autonomous vehicle technology, Ford is collaborating with the company. Ford is an investor in and a customer of Argo AI's autonomous vehicle technology. Both companies have established three test vehicle depots in Austin, Miami, and Washington, D.C. as part of their preparations for commercialization of their technologies. Ford will build a facility in Dallas that will be similar to its current operations if it chooses that city as the final location. The company also owns and operates a fleet of test vehicles and facilities in the cities of Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Palo Alto.
The two companies intend to launch at least 1,000 self-driving vehicles on Lyft's app over the next five years, with the first two cities to be Miami and Austin, respectively.
Following approval of the agenda item involving the Dallas Office of Economic Development, Ford will be eligible to receive over $3 million in proposed tax breaks over a five-year period. Additional to that, the city would commit a $250,000 grant toward the facility's development, which is proposed for a 32,361-square-foot space at 2335 Burbank Street in downtown Los Angeles. Ford would be required to create a minimum of 250 new jobs and invest a minimum of $160 million in the property, which would include the AV fleet, in order to fulfill its end of the bargain with the government.
As stated in city documents, the Dallas site is one of three final locations being considered by Ford for its new audiovisual facility. The other two are in California, where Ford's autonomous vehicle unit already has a presence and is currently in operation. On the other hand, Ford might see benefits in locating in Texas, which does not require permits for the operation of driverless autonomous vehicles. California, on the other hand, requires separate permits for testing with and without a driver, commercial autonomous delivery deployment, and commercial robotaxi deployment, all of which must be obtained in advance.
Ford declined to comment on the item on the Dallas City Council's agenda, stating that no decisions have been made and that no additional cities have been selected for expansion, and that "all of this is in the preliminary stages."
For the time being, Ford is focusing on establishing its self-driving business in three cities: Austin, Texas; Miami; and Washington, D.C. The company stated to TechCrunch that its goal is to build a profitable self-driving business. "Because we believe that expanding our self-driving services to more cities across the United States is critical, we're looking into a variety of locations across the country to do so. Detailed information about our self-driving vehicle business will be made available in the near future."
