Tesla, Google discuss autopilot system

Global automakers such as Nissan Motor and government officials say fully autonomous vehicles may not reach dealer showrooms for a decade, twice as long as Google expects. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both investors in Tesla before its 2010 initial public offering, have been proponents, with their Mountain View company demonstrating a driverless fleet of Toyota Prius hybrids equipped with laser-radar devices mounted on the roofs. Google's approach builds on a push for the driverless-car technology long pursued by the U.S. military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which held vehicle competitions for carmakers and research labs. Anthony Levandowski, product manager for Google's self-driving car project, has said the company expects to release the technology within five years. Autopilot systemWhile crash-avoidance systems that can alert a driver or apply brakes in advance of a wreck are coming to cars now, David Strickland, head of the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has said autonomous vehicles "are a long way off." Toyota Motor, also a Tesla investor, in January showed a driverless test vehicle in Las Vegas equipped with a Lidar device, radar and cameras and sensors - something more like the approach that Musk suggests.