Former GM R&D Chief Sees Self-Driving Cars In 2020

William Maley

Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com

April 10, 2012

The self-driving car; a dream that has talked about and tested for many years. But the dream could be a reality by 2020 according to a former GM R&D Chief.

Larry Burns, former head of GM’s r&d division spoke yesterday at University of Michigan Robotics Day said predicted that self driving vehicles will be on U.S. roads by the year 2020. Burns goes even farther, saying the tech needed for self-driving will be available in 2015.

“By 2015 we’re going to have auto companies selling features that are akin to cruise control on steroids. We’re in this five- to 10-year window when it’s going to be really exciting… By 2020 we’ll have self driving cars,” said Burns to Automotive News.

During his time at GM, Burns oversaw he development of a self-driving Chevrolet Tahoe SUV nicknamed Boss, which won the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007. However, development of self-driving vehicles screeched to halt when GM went into bankruptcy.

However, search engine giant, Google has taken the torch with self-driving vehicle development for the past several years. The work being done by Google will likely play a major role into getting the technology into hands of people.

But there are many hurdles to figure out before we see self-driving vehicles on our roads. Burns is confident those barriers will eventually work themselves out.

“We’re going to have to have policies and laws to figure out whose liable when driving this car,” he said. “As an innovator, you’ve got to anticipate all of this. I think the market is really going to be the thing to drive this, not the government.”

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)