Also an article in the NY Times about Google's new prototype self-driving cars.
Log In - The New York Times
The more I think about it, the more I think this is really big news. Really big. It could take a while before they can roll these out to cities who will accept them, but when they do it seems like it will truly revolutionize urban transportation. A few interesting points:
1. Looks like Google is now manufacturing these prototypes, 100 of them. That's actually a decent amount.
2. I'd bet they are all-electric.
3. They currently have a speed limit of 25 mph. They could probably up the speed over time. The reason for 25mph is because it's exponentially harder to do autonomous driving at higher speeds. Also, there are fewer regulation for low-speed vehicles at the moment (Low-speed vehicle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
4. The initial target is probably urban areas. Think Manhattan. And think about a fleet of taxis that are autonomous with no driver. You step in and just tell the car where you want to go.
5. This could be huge in China's urban cities. All-electric taxi. With no driver. Google could find a manufacturing partner in China and provide the design and software.
6. This isn't in direct competition with Tesla right now since Tesla is going after the current auto market (ie., cars with drivers). But in 15 years, I can see Google and Tesla as major competitors.
I could go on but I'll leave it here for now.
This has been in development imo. Google filed a patent earlier this year: Patent US8630897 - Transportation-aware physical advertising conversions - Google Patents
So, in that patent, if you look at Figure 6, 7, in the future, Google might place an advertising, and there will be a "Take me there" button on your devices screen, that if you choose to press, will pick you up using Google autonomous car, and take you to the destination for free, with the hope that you might buy the item from the vendor. Google still make $ from advertising.
Also, earlier today, Sergey Brin was interviewed at Code Conference about this car. He mentioned that it's still going to be "lonw way away" until this program is broadly available and ready. Google will try to pilot the test in San Francisco area with 100-200 vehicle