The chief executive of Tesla Motors said he is in talks with Google and may add driverless technology to its vehicles.
Elon Musk, 41, said that cars that can drive themselves is the next logical step in car evolution, according to Bloomberg News.
“I like the word autopilot more than I like the word self- driving,” Musk told Bloomberg. “Self-driving sounds like it’s going to do something you don’t want it to do. Autopilot is a good thing to have in planes, and we should have it in cars.”
Perhaps Musk has a direct line to Google because both Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin invested in Tesla prior to its initial public offering in 2010. Google expects the driverless car technology to be released within five years. However, Musk wants costs to come down because currently the Model S sedan has a $69,900 base price and his goal is to sell it for $30,000 in "a few years."
Google declined to comment.
U.S. & World
“I think Tesla will most likely develop its own autopilot system for the car, as I think it should be camera-based, not Lidar-based,” Musk said an e-mail to Bloomberg. “However, it is also possible that we do something jointly with Google.”
How much of this is true is based on how much readers trust Elon Musk. We're sure that Tesla would be delighted to work with Google, but we're not as sure Google wants to work with Tesla.
