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AnonTechie [soylentnews.org] writes:

Google's prototype electric self-driving car seats two, has no steering wheel.
Google has revealed it plans to build its own self-driving cars from the ground up, per an announcement from founder Sergey Brin at the Code conference Tuesday. The company revealed one such car to Recode, a highly compact two-seater without a steering wheel. Google had previously been retrofitting Toyota Priuses and Lexus SUVs with its self-driving technology. The cars were approved last week for use on public roads in California, and Google demonstrated the technology's ability to navigate complex traffic situations in cities at the end of April. The prototype Google revealed differs from the Priuses and Lexuses in that they can't let humans take over the job of piloting; they are completely controlled by the onboard computer. In addition to lacking a steering wheel, the Google-built car also has no accelerator, no brake, no mirrors, no glove compartment, and no soundsystem (your tiny smartphone speaker will have to do). The cars are capped at a modest 25mph and are started and stopped by a button. (Just like MS Windows !!)

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/05/google-buil ds-a-prototype-self-driving-car-sans-steering-whee l/ [arstechnica.com]

http://recode.net/2014/05/27/googles-new-self-driv ing-car-ditches-the-steering-wheel/ [recode.net]

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