Tire supplier's autonomous vehicle program launched in Nevada

Automotive supplier Continental has just received approval from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles to wheel its new driverless car on public roads there.

The German company, most well-known for making tires, has clocked 24,100 km (15,000 miles) on its Highly Automated Vehicle and is now looking to do some real-world testing.

Continental had to demonstrate the HAV's capabilities to Nevada’s Autonomous Review Committee before they could be issued one of the state's special for-driverless-cars red licence plates, AutoGuide reports.

Among other things, that included a review of Continental's safety plans and accident reporting mechanisms for the HAV.

Continental says most of the radar sensors and cameras used to steer the driverless HAV are already available on the cars you'll see on showroom floors today.

The supplier says partially autonomous cars could hit roads by 2016, and fully autonomous cars not long after, by 2020 or 2025. The HAV will join Google's driverless test cars on Nevada roads.

(via AutoGuide)