The two-seater white cars, which Google has created in partnership with Roush Industries in Detroit, will be hitting the roads of Austin in the next week.
The electric cars kind of resemble a miniature Volkswagen beetle with futuristic stylings. The prototype cars don’t have a steering wheel, brake pedal or an accelerator because Google says the cars don’t need them. But that equipment will be onboard during testing for the ride-along drivers to take over, if needed. The cars rely on Google’s sensors and software and GPS to navigate the roads.
Austin is the first city outside of Google’s hometown of Mountain View where it is testing its self-driving car technology. For the past two months, Google has been testing its self-driving Lexus RX450h SUVs in Austin. But those cars have been adapted to handle Google’s equipment. The prototype cars are specially designed and built by Google partners as autonomous vehicles.
Google’s prototype car is designed to take anyone, anywhere with just a push of a button and few spoken instructions. Google designed its prototype from the ground up to operate safely and autonomously. The goal is to cut down on accidents primarily caused by human error, reduce the amount of time wasted in traffic each day and provide transportation to blind, disabled and other people who can longer drive like some senior citizens.
Within four years, Google hopes to have the autonomous vehicles commercially available and citizens throughout the U.S. regularly riding in them, Urmson said. Google is not going to sacrifice safety to get there, but that’s its goal, he said. Urmson has two sons and one is about to turn 12. He told him that when he turns 16 he will not need to get a driver’s license. He will simply ride in a self-driving car.