(CNN, May 28, 2014) — Google has revealed a prototype of its latest driverless car — and this one doesn’t even have a steering wheel.
The car will only have a stop and go button. No steering wheel. No pedals.
Unlike Google’s previous self-driving vehicles, which have been based on conventional cars adapted to navigate around without a driver, this model has been designed from scratch.
“They won’t have a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, or brake pedal… because they don’t need them,” Google said in a statement.
The car can carry two passengers and has a maximum speed of 25 miles per hour.
Google says the car’s most important feature is its safety.
“They have sensors that remove blind spots, and they can detect objects out to a distance of more than two football fields in all directions, which is especially helpful on busy streets with lots of intersections,” the company said.
With its front designed to look like a friendly smiley face, the Google autonomous car is not just efficient and futuristic, but also cute to look at.
Google said it planned to build around 100 prototypes, which it will start testing in a few months.
The company started developing its self-driving cars in 2005, and is testing previous models across the U.S. They are expected to be available to buy by 2020.
