"That’s roughly how its in-car dashboard system, Android Auto, operates now. However, running an OS for a full vehicle, with its wealth of safety features and parts made by disparate companies, may be too complicated, said Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who studies the field. He expects Google to enter into specific licensing deals in the not-too-distant future with carmakers or fleets — providing self-driving software and gizmos, say, for a dealership or a delivery company.
Enter Krafcik, who has a tough pitch to make. As the mobile tech giants have more aggressively entered the car world, they have set most of the older industry on edge.
“There’s some nervousness that the traditional model of manufacturing and sales are really getting away from what companies are used to,” Smith said. “Google and Apple are not the usual suppliers. It almost inverts the pyramid even more.”"