
Lexus has announced that it expects to have self-driving cars on the market by the year 2020. That is just 5 years away!
The technology is geared towards highway driving at the moment. I think of it like cruise control, but way better.Unlike the luxury automaker’s first self-driving car—the 2013 Lexus LS that premiered at CES looked like something out of Mad Max—today’s version lacks the heavy body armor of cameras, lasers, and radar. In Japan, Toyota is testing a Lexus GS450h with all of those sensors tucked away. Millimeter-wave radar and lidar scanners are not only in the grille but appear inside additional cutouts in the lower front fascia, on either side of the back bumper, and an enlarged roof spoiler. A visual camera sits in front of the rearview mirror.
Toyota plans to keep automated driving as an on-off feature, instead of a always engaged type thing.
“This approach acknowledges the utility of automated driving technologies while maintaining the fun experience of driving itself,” the company said.