Google’s new self-driving car prototype forgoes steering wheel, mirrors, & pedals

Google showed off a prototype for a new self-driving car today that does away with key features of the cars we know and see everyday.

People don’t need to control these new prototypes, so it makes sense that Google left out a steering wheel, pedals, mirrors, and other components drivers normally use to navigate cars.

Google cofounder Sergey Brin discussed the latest results of the tech giant’s research at Re/code’s Code Conference today in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

Google is now producing 100-200 prototypes of the model, Brin said. They exclude back seats and top off at 25 mph, according a Google blog post.

The company has been working on driverless car technology for years. Now that it’s building more than just a few vehicles, we could see performance improvements and, of course, more hype.

It’s unclear how things will play out business-wise, although it looks like Google won’t be on its own in this endeavor. “We expect we’ll work with partners in the future,” Brin said.