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While Google has been making news with the idea of their driverless cars and test driving them on California highways, Toyota has been quietly... Can Toyota Compete with Google For Driverless Cars?

While Google has been making news with the idea of their driverless cars and test driving them on California highways, Toyota has been quietly working behind the scenes on their own project for a semi-driverless car.

Toyota released information just ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that they too have a car that can drive itself. It is labeled as semi-driverless because the focus is on assisting the driver by detecting obstacles in the road or waking the driver up if he drifts off to sleep. However, Toyota says it can be autonomous if it needs to be.

Can Toyota Compete with Google For Driverless Cars?

Toyota’s Futuristic Concept Hybrid X

 

Not the First

Toyota is not the first to test self-driving cars. In fact, Volvo tested them in Spain last year and Ford is predicting to have self-driving cars on the road in just four years. However, people can get a closer look at these vehicles at this year’s CES in Las Vegas that starts next week. Toyota and Audi will be debuting their vehicles.

The Lexus LS 600h is Toyota’s prototype for the show and comes with radar and camera equipment to allow it to tell where other cars are on the road, find lane lines and read traffic signals.

Google has been test driving its driverless cars in Nevada and California, which coincidentally has been with the Toyota Prius. Now that Toyota is showing off its own technology, one has to wonder how that relationship will progress.

While driverless cars have been a focus for several years, Google brought the idea to the forefront. It received a patent back in 2011 for its technology and is moving forward to making these vehicles a reality for car owners. However, the game may change if the auto manufacturers create their own version of these automobiles.

More information will become available once the car makes its appearance at the CES.

[Images via pdfcast & foxbusiness]