This Wednesday, April 23, 2014 photo provided by Google shows the Google driverless car navigating along a street in Mountain View, Calif. The director of Google’s self-driving car project wrote in a blog post Monday, April 28, that development of the technology has entered a new stage: trying to master driving on city streets. Many times more complex than freeways, which the cars can now reliably navigate, city streets represent a huge challenge. AP
LOS ANGELES—Google is building a car without a steering wheel.
Sergey Brin, co-founder of the technology titan, told a Southern California tech conference Tuesday evening that Google will make 100 prototype cars that drive themselves — and therefore do not need a wheel. Or brake and gas pedals.
Instead, there are buttons for go and stop.
A combination of sensors and computing power takes the driving from there.
To date, Google has driven hundreds of thousands of miles on public roads with Lexus SUVs and Toyota Priuses outfitted with the special equipment.
This prototype is the first Google will have built for itself.
It won’t be for sale, and Google is unlikely to go deeply into auto manufacturing. In a blog post, the company emphasized partnering with other firms.