Google's self drive prototype car is a manifestation of plans revealed in May to build its own autonomous car minus typical features such as steering wheels.
"They won't have a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, or brake pedal ... because they don't need them. Our software and sensors do all the work," Google's Chris Urmson said in a blog post in May. Technical specifics about the prototype were not disclosed.
For Google, the car marks a shift away from adapting vehicles made by others in its quest to pioneer individual transport that needs only a stop-and-go function. Google said early this year that the top speed of the battery-powered prototypes will be 40km/h and that they would be designed for utility, not luxury.
Several automakers have been working on autonomous or semi-autonomous features for cars, such as self-parking, but no fully autonomous car has come to market.
Source: hNZ Herald
