Sleek self-driving pods aren’t here, but autonomous cars have already come a long way

When it comes to self-driving cars, the future is here. It just looks a lot like the past — with a little added bulk. 

Where are the hovering wheels, hot tubs in the trunk, and backseat napping pods?

Back in 2009, carmakers at the Los Angeles Auto Show were asked what they thought autonomous cars would look like in 2030. We’re halfway to the big date … and let’s just say driverless cars have a long way to go. 

In 2016, the theme was “Autonomous Vehicles: A Redefined User Experience for 2050.” Honda revealed a car concept that doubled as a cafe and amphibious pod.

Qoros, a Chinese car company, contrasted a sci-fi  design with its traditional SUVs.

Here’s the thing: We already have driverless vehicles. But not many people use them outside of Phoenix, home of Waymo’s autonomous taxi service, and Las Vegas, where you can score one of Aptiv’s 30 cars on Lyft.

And they certainly don’t look futuristic. GM’s self-driving division, Cruise, uses a Chevy Bolt for its test vehicles. They basically look like every other Bolt on the road.

It’ll take until 2030 for self-driving cars to look drastically different, predicted Sandeep Pandya, president of Netradyne, which creates safety tools for autonomous vehicles. 

“Design will seem revolutionary,” he said. “Interior cabin design will be radical,” once design and new regulations free us from steering wheels and gas pedals. 

Despite the fact we’re not cruising around in self-driving cafes, we’ve made a lot of progress. Waymo’s tiny Firefly prototype from 2015 wasn’t very practical or impressive. Now its altered Chrysler Pacifica minivans shuttle real passengers in Arizona. 

Uber changed the look of its self-driving car since it launched in 2015. The first Uber autonomous vehicle was a modified Ford Fusion. Earlier this year, the ride-hailing company announced Volvo was creating a car with Uber’s driving tech built in — not retroactively added to the vehicle design.

It’s not an amphibious pod, but it’s a step in the right direction.