Announced at a conference in California, the vehicle will be built by the firm itself and will not feature pedals or a steering wheel, instead being controlled by a smartphone app. 

In a blog post, Chris Urmson, director of the company's self-driving project, said the vehicles have sensors that remove blind spots, and they can detect objects out to a distance of more than two football fields in all directions. ‘Designed for learning, not luxury’, the interior will be ‘light on creature comforts’ but will feature ‘two seats (with seatbelts), a space for passengers’ belongings, buttons to start and stop, and a screen that shows the route – and that’s about it’, he added.

A total of 100 prototypes will be built for testing with the speed limited to 25mph. If successful, the next move will be a small pilot test programme in California.

Urmson added: ‘We're really excited about this vehicle – it's something that will allow us to really push the capabilities of self driving technology, and understand the limitations.’

To watch a video of the car, click here.