Google now has obtained licenses for 73 of its self-driving cars which is an increase from the 23 cars that were licensed in the middle of May.
The expanded fleet is mostly made up of Google's latest model of its self-driving cars. Uniquely designed with a LIDAR laser imaging sensor found on the roof, the small, rounded car reportedly drives at a top speed of 25 miles per hour.
Google's latest designed models are built with no steering wheel or pedals. The laser imaging sensor is said to be equipped with scanners which allow the car to view its surroundings in a 360-degree angle.
"The cars look really, really cute," said Peleg Bar of Mountain View. "It actually looks like they came out of a computer game or out of space."
At least 50 of its latest self-driving car models are already licensed as shown by the records coming from the Department of Motor Vehicles in California. However, only a handful of these models are seen on public roads. Normally, people would see them moving close to the offices of Google X in Mountain View.
Later in June, one of Google's self-driving cars had a close encounter between another self-driving car, allegedly from the company known as Delphi.
"During a recent visit with Reuters, our Delphi expert described an actual interaction that we encounter all the time in real-world driving situations. In this case, it was a typical lane change maneuver. No vehicle was cut off and the vehicles didn't even come close to each other," said a spokesperson for Delphi.
So far, only a handful of incidents involving Google's self-driving cars had been reported. While none of the reported cases had been attributed to a software malfunction, they were seen as either caused by other drivers or a result of the cars being under manual control.
A small proportion of Google's self-driving cars is still made up of previous generation Lexus RX450h SUVs. It also carries the same laser imaging system on the roof along with sensors that are strategically placed on the sides and on the front.
Apart from obtaining licenses for the cars, Google has also gained licenses for its 219 drivers out of the total 344 recorded in the state. These licenses are also one of the state's requirements for companies which are in the self-driving cars industry.
