Audi announced on Tuesday that it became the first automobile manufacturer to get a permit from California to test its self-driving cars, Mashable reported on Tuesday.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law in 2012 allowing for such testing, which carries a minimum $5 million surety bond requirement for each experimental vehicle. The law went into effect on Tuesday. Michigan, Florida and Nevada also let automakers test self-driving cars on public roads.
"Audi is a driving force behind the research taking automated driving from science fiction to pre-production readiness," Scott Keogh, president of Audi of America, said in a statement. "Obtaining the first permit issued by the state of California shows that we intend to remain the leader in this vital technology frontier."
The German automaker is one of many that have already started testing self-driving technology in other places. Other companies include Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Ford, GM; many expect to have such vehicles on the road by 2020, according to the LA Times.
By 2025, as many as 230,000 new autonomous vehicles a year could hit roads around the world. That number could swell to 11.8 million a decade later, according to a study released by IHS Automotive.
California is one of four states in the U.S. that now allow automakers to test self-driving cars on public roads. Michigan, Florida and Nevada also allow it. Gov. Brown was keen to put California at the forefront of such testing when he signed the law in September 2012.
The regulations going into effect today place strict guidelines on the car, its manufacturer and the human pilot testing it.
The automaker must hand over a $5 million bond against a failure to pay any claims resulting in an accident, have a net worth of at least $5 million, train anyone who will be behind the wheel and have tested the self-driving car in a simulated environment before putting it on public roads.
