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A real-life prototype, left, and an artist's rendering, right, of Google's own self-driving car.

Google has revealed it plans to build its own self-driving cars from the ground up, per an announcement from founder Sergey Brin at the Code Conference Tuesday. The company revealed one such car to Recode, a highly compact two-seater without a steering wheel.

Google had previously been retrofitting Toyota Priuses and Lexus SUVs with its self-driving technology. The cars were approved last week for use on public roads in California, and Google demonstrated the technology's ability to navigate complex traffic situations in cities at the end of April.

The prototype Google revealed differs from the Priuses and Lexuses in that they can't let humans take over the job of piloting; they are completely controlled by the onboard computer. In addition to lacking a steering wheel, the Google-built car also has no accelerator, no brake, no mirrors, no glove compartment, and no soundsystem (your tiny smartphone speaker will have to do). The cars are capped at a modest 25mph and are started and stopped by a button.

In a Q&A with Recode, head of the self-driving car project Chris Urmson stated that the car uses "fault-tolerant architecture" to minimize damage "should something happen." Urmson says that the the front end of the car is "compressible foam" and the windshield is flexible, which "should do a much better job of protecting people if an accident should occur."

Google gave no hints as to where the car was manufactured or a timeframe for official launch, so the project remains experimental. "We’re going to learn a lot from this experience, and if the technology develops as we hope, we’ll work with partners to bring this technology into the world safely," states the official Google blog.

A First Drive

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