Why Google Seek To Self-Driving Cars On Auto Industry

Why Google Seek To Self-Driving Cars On Auto Industry - John Krafcik, in his remarks prepared for an industry market conference hosted by Automotive News in Detroit, said “in the next stage of this project, we will need to partner more, not less.” Mr. Krafcik joined Google X, the experimental segment of the Mountain View, Calif.-based company, in September. The head of Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving car project said the tech giant is entering a phase where more collaboration is needed with auto industry players on vehicle autonomy.

“We would like to form some partnerships this year,” he said too.

Google has a fleet of fully autonomous Lexus’ SUVs and bubble shaped “prototypes” that it has driven more than 1.3 million miles. Mr. Krafcik said “we are getting closer to getting to our goal of getting you from A to B with the touch of a button.” He also made reference to wanting to make cars that can be used by anyone, young or old, with licenses and without. There are proposed rules in California that would require autonomous cars to be run only by people with special driver’s licenses, which would exclude people with disabilities, the young or very old. He said the big leap in autonomous vehicle technology already has been made and the company had begun testing in bad weather, something that the sensors on these vehicles still struggle with.