Is this the future face of motoring?

Photo: Google says it will start testing its driverless car this year. (Google)

Google, has just revealed its own self-driving prototype car. 

The cute compact two seater has no steering, accelerator or brake. It simply has an on and off button and importantly two cup holders! The car relies on Google software and sensors to do the driving for its passengers.

Google plans to build around 100 prototype vehicles for testing and hopes to run a pilot program in California. If all goes well we could expect to see these cars on Australian roads (or a least the technology in other more mainstream brands) in the next 5 years or so.

The more interesting proposition of such driverless cars, is their potential to change not only our car owning habits but our commuting behaviours. As this technology rolls out there will be numerous new planning implications to overcome as we integrate driverless vehicles with our current ‘manual’ fleets.

The next trick will be to get such cars to fly and fold up into a suitcase, just like George Jetson’s.