In one of our more recent articles updating you on Google’s self-driving car, we left off asking the question, “how exactly will they implement the technology?†Their testing involved numerous Prii (yes, “Prii†is the official plural form as of February 20, 2011 according to Toyota), as well as many Lexus RXs. However, in recently news Google unveiled their pod-like prototype that seems to hold a very creepy front facial expression.
As mentioned in the headline, Google decided to do away with the traditional steering wheel and gas-brake pedal combo. That being said, theres zero interaction with the “driver†other than a button that you press and then tell the car where to go, then on your way. The car holds two occupants, left to do whatever they please as the onboard computer acts as a chauffeur, my vote would lean towards a power nap option, but possibilities are endless.
A huge advantage to the autonomous vehicle is fairly extensive; one notable highlight being potentially eliminating drunk driving as a whole. However, many would argue it would only reach it’s demise if one can afford the car, what about those who can’t? Google has already looked at that issue and is developing a program/plan for a spin-off taxi service where a Google car would show up (when called) in relative time, pick you up, drop you off, then on to the next customer, quite the concept if put into action.
As of now, solid plans are to make about 100 of these cars come summertime, except they’ll be equipped with manual controls until confidence in autonomy reaches 200%. After all, its not only Google who needs to be pleased but also government officials due to the relatively high margin for error of having big pieces of metal run around the city with no driver. 2020 seems to be the mark when all this could be not only fully operational but rather common, so try and curb your excitement until then, we will.
