Autonomous cars – vehicles that drive themselves – will begin arriving by 2025 and will account for virtually all vehicles on the road by 2050, according to a new study.
IHS Automotive says about 230,000 self-driving vehicles will be on the roads by 2025, growing dramatically to 11.8 million 10 years later.
By the middle of the 21st century, just about every vehicle on the road will be autonomous, according to the study.
Most automakers and corporate giants like Google have been developing and testing autonomous vehicles for the last several years. The cars are already legal in California and Nevada.
HS predicts that the first autonomous vehicles will command a price premium of between $7,000 and $10,000.
By 2035, when the study says 9.2 percent of all new vehicles sold will be autonomous, those premiums should drop to about $3,000 more than a conventional vehicle.