I have yet to hear Google has solved the main reason their Self-Driving Cars aren't practical: That every road they drive on must be precisely mapped ahead of time, at a much higher fidelity level than Google Maps/Street View is normally done nationwide.
Tesla and other self-driving developers are working without the luxury of a worldwide mapping database, and while not perfect, their products more or less could work on any road, because they're based on input from the sensors. But Google cars are dependent on input from Google servers, which means, where that data is lacking, the cars can't drive.
If they're looking to run some sort of business to start making money, I could maybe see like an Uber-like service across very small geographic areas they have mapped. But the narrow fence around the area you can practically drive with one makes it useless to sell as a consumer vehicle.
Tesla and other self-driving developers are working without the luxury of a worldwide mapping database, and while not perfect, their products more or less could work on any road, because they're based on input from the sensors. But Google cars are dependent on input from Google servers, which means, where that data is lacking, the cars can't drive.
If they're looking to run some sort of business to start making money, I could maybe see like an Uber-like service across very small geographic areas they have mapped. But the narrow fence around the area you can practically drive with one makes it useless to sell as a consumer vehicle.