Remember when Google was just a search engine? Simpler times...
Now, Google is behind all sorts of technology: Android phones, Smartglass and even driverless cars. That's right: Google wants to take the drivers out of the equation, which would hopefully lead to less accidents and fewer fatalities overall. It's a good idea; after all, how many people are killed by drunk drivers alone every year? Taking them out of the equation entirely could save thousands of lives.
Of course, there's still some waiting left to do. Google says to expect driverless smart-cars within five years. It makes sense - this sort of technology has never been built before; making the first model of anything usually takes the longest. That being said, Google certainly isn't wasting any time.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Google has already begn constructing prototypes of its driverless cars in Detroit. The Roush factory in Livonia is being used to assemble the prototypes, which use a pod-like design similar to that of a Volkswagen Beetle.
However, these aren't the first prototypes that Google has built. The initial model was announced last May; the newest batch of prototypes is simply a refinement of that iteration. Following this second model, a third batch of prototypes will be built when the current fleet of test cars reaches 150 units.
The good news is that the company's other test cars have a combined mileage of over 700,000 miles. What's even more impressive is that none of the accidents were sustained because of the cars themselves - aside from being hit by other drivers (and an employee rear-ending another car), the Google driverless cars have performed perfectly, with no accidents whatsoever. Even for testing purposes, such a figure is astounding.
The bad news is that Google's self-driving cars are still far too expensive to match the wide range of customers that the company is looking at. The sensors onboard the car cost roughly $70,000 on their own, and that price is already out of many millennials' range. The cost will come down as the technology becomes easier to produce, but for now, it seems that the price of parts may be Google's biggest roadblock (pun intended).
The road could be a very different place sooner than anyone expected. Google is leading the way when it comes to less traditional cars, which is something absolutely everyone should be excited about.
Plus, just think about it: you could add in a Knight Rider-style robotic voice to it!
