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Google is Looking to Hire a Few Good Autonomous Test Drivers

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Jennifer van der Kleut

Can’t wait for the day to come when you get to slip into the front seat of a driverless car?

That day could be tomorrow-or, at least, one day very soon.

Google has placed an online job ad on the site Glassdoor.com indicating they wish to hire test drivers for their fleet of self-driving cars.

Of course, there’s more to the job than just taking the test cars for daily spins. The job listing says the “vehicle safety specialists” will be expected to collect data for the project engineers, and reconcile safety systems to work in harmony for all other systems within the cars.

The specialists will also participate in design reviews to help ensure that all safety systems are working efficiently.

Ideal candidates will possess a bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering or other related field, as well as at least five years of experience in related engineering work include hazard analyses. And of course, knowledge of automotive systems is a major plus.

Since 2009, Google has been hard at work developing its self-driving car systems, and has logged more than 1 million test miles. Though Google logged its first at-fault accident on Valentine’s Day of this year, it continues to expand its program. In addition to driving around its main headquarters in Silicon Valley, their test cars can also be seen on the roads in Austin, Texas and Kirkland, Washington today.

Most recently, Google appeared before Congress last week to discuss the merits of self-driving vehicle technology, and to discuss how the government can better remove legislative obstacles to getting the technology to market.

Though the Department of Transportation has expressed eagerness in helping self-driving technology progress, their most recent report indicates they still think autonomous cars should include traditional features like steering wheels and brake pedals-much to the disappointment of companies like Google, whose test cars have neither-as well as driver’s seats.

Not long after that report was released, and after the hearing with Congress took place, top Google executive Chris Urmson sent an informal letter to the federal government proposing that self-driving cars should be legal to drive on public roads, and should be legal to sell to consumers, if the cars can pass a road safety test, proving they are up to federal safety standards.

Taking the next step in its Blueprint for Mobility, Ford today – in conjunction with the University of Michigan and State Farm® – revealed a Ford Fusion Hybrid automated research vehicle that will be used to make progress on future automated driving and other advanced technologies.

Automakers: You Wouldn’t Want to Rent an iPhone, So You Probably Won’t Want to Hire an Autonomous Car, Either

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Jennifer van der Kleut

CNBC recently interviewed executives from top automakers working on autonomous car technology, and they say they’re not as worried about the threat of ridesharing companies like Uber as one might think they should be.

Representatives from OEMs like Nissan-Renault and Volvo say in the future, your autonomous car will be just as personalized as your smartphone-and for that reason, they predict you’d rather own one than hire one.

“People use a car for many other things [than just transportation] and with the connectivity coming, the car is going to become a kind of working space, it’s going to become a living space,” Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Renault-Nissan, said during a CNBC technology event.

“Because if in the car you can connect, interface, video conference… it becomes your own space, you’re going to have your own photos, your own email, your own music, your own calls, your own everything. It becomes like your iPhone, you want something belonging to you,” he continued.

Klas Bendrik, chief information officer at Volvo Cars, told CNBC he thinks it will depend on the area one is in.

“You have a different transportation need when you go from the cities to the suburban areas, and if you go to the countryside you have a different transportation need,” Blendrik said, adding that ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft may make sense in “mega-cities,” he thinks personalized autonomous cars will prove much more attractive in suburban and other areas.

While countless automakers and tech firms alike have said they believe autonomous car technology as the safest option in the future, and will be the preferred mode of transportation for millions in the future, opinions still appear to be varied as to when we can expect it to be widely available.

While some companies like Tesla and Google appear to be in a race to see who can get it to mass market first, even before 2020 rolls around, others like Ford, Toyota and Mitsubishi seem to be taking the road a little slower to truly perfect the technology.

Toyota has publicly said that at this time, they still believe humans have better instincts than auto software, and that there are still significant hurdles to overcome before the technology is ready for mass market.

Mitsubishi has made no secret of the fact that they are not rushing to get an autonomous car on the road, though they are working on it. Their first priority is improving safety, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

Ford appears to making significant progress, becoming the first to test their driverless and connected-car technology at the Mcity testing ground in Michigan, and the first to test their driverless cars in heavy winter snow and ice.

Ford has also famously partnered with Google on driverless car technology, pairing their cars with Google’s software-and some think the partnership could go beyond driverless cars as well.

See CNBC’s interviews with automakers like Nissan-Renault and Volvo on their website.