AUTOMAKERS KNOW THE FUTURE is autonomous. Ford promises to put thousands of robocars on the road by 2021. Mercedes-Benz and General Motors hope to get there sooner, even as they race to catch up with Google and Baidu.
Meanwhile, some 90,000 Teslas already have Autopilot, which gives the Model S and Model X many of the features people consider autonomous.
The technology, which Tesla Motors introduced with an over-the-air software update in October, allows the cars to accelerate, maintain lane position, change lanes and even park without any input from the driver.
