Google has announced today that it will be partnering with several major car manufacturers, including Ford, Toyota, and Volkswagen, to speed up production of its self-driving cars.
According to Reuters:
"We'd be remiss not to talk to ... the biggest auto manufacturers. They've got a lot to offer," Chris Urmson, director of Google's self-driving car project, said in an interview before speaking at an industry conference.Those manufacturers, he said, include General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp, Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG
Urmson also told Reuters that he expects the first consumer-ready fruits of Google's efforts to be available by 2020.
This news comes roughly a month after Google unveiled the first "complete" prototype of its autonomous car concept, which it plans to begin testing on the streets sometime this year. However, by partnering with traditional car manufacturers, the future could be here for the rest of us sooner than we think.
Source: Reuters
