With maximum speeds of 25 miles per hour in self-driving mode, the cars are also equipped with a removable steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedals that can allow the driver to take control. He most recently served as the president and director of TrueCar.
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Google is adding a veteran automotive executive to run its program focused on developing self-driving cars.
“Self-driving cars could save thousands of lives, give people greater mobility & free us from things we find frustrating about driving today”, he said in a subsequent tweet.
Many automakers have developed semiautonomous cars; few are actively pursuing fully autonomous as a solution in the near term.
Krafcik has a long history in the automotive industry; he got started at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc (NUMMI), a then-joint venture between GM and Toyota. The cars are powered through Google’s Artificial Intelligence (AI), and so far the results have been astounding.
The pod-like prototypes are being developed and assembled at a Roush facility for testing at Google facilities in California where there is no snow to contend with.
Google wants to get an autonomous vehicle in the market by 2020.
Krafcik confirmed his appointment in a series of posts on Twitter late Sunday. But the firm does not wish to make the cars on its own.
A Google spokeswoman said that they are happy with their progress; at the moment they are investing in coming up with a team that could assist in bringing this technology to its complete potential. “We have an outstanding technical leader in Chris Urmson; he has led our technology vision and execution, and he has built important bridges between Silicon Valley and the auto industry”.
A mechanical engineer with degrees from Stanford University and MIT, Krafcik is Google’s link between futuristic technology and the commercial auto industry.
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The Google (GOOGL) X lab is also working on some other projects, such as Loon, in which company aims to offer an access to wireless Internet to the most remote areas of the world through smart balloons, and it has been now tested in the Southern hemisphere.
