Waymo could be worth $175 billion - here's the history of the Google Car project

The X lab focuses on Google's most out-there ideas, from Glass to Waymo. The projects are called "moon shots."

The 2012 period was the Google Car's early days. Toyota vehicles were used to support the hardware technology needed to explore the numerous challenges of self-driving vehicles.

The SUV was a larger platform.

For most outside observers, the Firefly podmobile symbolized the Google Car. It would be tested minus a steering wheel under some circumstances. But it didn't mean that Google was going to become a car company.

Interestingly, while Firefly was involved in accidents, most were fender-benders that were the fault of human drivers in other vehicles.

The Google Car spent most of its early test period in California, but after 2013 states that had the vehicles on public roads includes Arizona, Michigan, and Texas.

The former North American head of Hyundai joined Waymo as CEO in 2016. It was the first genuinely prominent hire of an experienced auto-industry name by a Silicon Valley company.

After Google became Alphabet in 2015, the Google Car project was renamed Waymo in 2016 and spun off.

The lead-up to Waymo LLC v. Uber Technologies, Inc. was much-discussed, as former Google Car engineer Anthony Levandowski was accused in intellectual property theft.

But the actual trial lasted just a few days in February of 2018, with Uber settling with Waymo by giving up about $245 million in equity.

By late 2017 and early 2018, Krafcik started to outline the Waymo business plan.

It revolves around our key areas: ride hailing, moving around goods, augmenting public transportation, and making Waymo's tech available to partners through licensing deals.

Krafick also stressed that Waymo was all about developing what he called a "driver" — a system of laser-radars, sensors, and software that can "drive" any vehicle.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles joined up with Waymo in 2017, providing the self-driving startup with Pacifica minivans.

The 2018 New York Auto Show found Waymo pairing up with Jaguar to add a Waymo driver to the I-PACE luxury electric vehicle.

Morgan Stanley argued that adding up all Waymo's possible lines of business could yield a value of $175 billion — $100 billion more than previously thought by many analysts.