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Elon Musk Foretells Tesla Sans Steering Wheel
Elon Musk showed off a car interior remarkable more for what it doesn't have - a steering wheel.
(No steering wheel needed in autonomous cars - Elon Musk)
“I think there will be a transition period where people are able to take over from the robotaxi but once regulators are comfortable with us not having a steering wheel, we will just delete that.”“The probability of the steering wheel being taken away is 100%. Consumers will demand it.”
As far as I know, the first description of an autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel is found in The Living Machine, a 1935 story by David H. Keller:
"I want to show you something new in the way of an automobile." "Nothing new about this," laughed Babson, scornfully. "One of our best and most familiar models.""How about the steering wheel?"
"Where is it?"
"I do not need one. Sit down and make yourself comfortable. Now watch me. We are going into traffic..."
Update 08-Feb-2024: I've found an earlier reference for a first description of an autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel from Paradise and Iron by Miles Breuer, published in Amazing Stories Quarterly in 1930:
The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove! Ames tinkered around with something on the instrument board when he got in; and in a few moments we were off.
End update.
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