Google is now building high tech cars.
In the past, the technology giant stuffed electronics in an existing car model to create an autonomous car, but now, Google is entering the car making business, at least in prototypes, by building a fleet of up to 200 self-driving car prototypes.
Gone is the steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedal, now unnecessary technology. Instead you just push a button to get to where you want to go.
“We took a look from the ground up as to what it would be like if we had self-driving cars in the world,” announced Google co-founder Sergey Brin Monday. “We’ve worked with partners in the Detroit area, Germany and California,” he said.
The cars will be very basic initially with two seats and some storage space and a maximum speed capability of 25 mph. The windshield is plastic. They have a stop/start button and a screen to display your travel route. The car lets you ask for a destination address and then it will drive you to it, said Brin, according to Bloomberg News.
Google said it is not aiming to get rid of traditional cars but that “some features we’ve developed may be useful for those cars,” said Brin, according to Yahoo News.
“I expect people will use a mix – some will want their own car to drive, and sometimes they’ll choose to use a self-driving car,” he said.
Until now Google has been using modified Prius, Lexus and other cars for its autonomous prototypes.
By 2050 almost all cars will be self-driving predicts IHS Automotive. And nearly 12 million autonomous cars will be on the road by 2035. IHS expects that autonomous cars will cost an additional $7-$10,000 over standard cars by the year 2025, said Bloomberg.
