---
title: "This Is Uber’s First Self-Driving Car"
description: "Autonomous Ford Fusions are now roaming the streets of Pittsburgh."
date: "2016-05-19"
modified: "2016-05-19"
authors:
  - name: "Will Sabel Courtney"
    job_title: "Contributor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/will-sabel-courtney"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/3562/this-is-ubers-first-self-driving-car"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "pittsburgh"
  - "self-driving cars"
  - "Uber"
---

# This Is Uber’s First Self-Driving Car

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/051916-uber-self-driving-pittsburg-hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

[Uber has made no secret of its interest in self-driving cars](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-selfdriving-idUSKCN0XN1F1>). From the company's perspective, what's not to love? Those squishy organics behind the wheel are the company's biggest expense and biggest hassle. Ditching them for a fleet of autonomous cars could enable the company to save big bucks in the long run—even if, say, [it had to shell out $10 billion to Mercedes-Benz to get the ball rolling](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/2630/uber-may-have-just-ordered-100-000-mercedes-benz-s-classes>).

But while retiring *Homo sapiens* is still a ways off, Uber announced this week that it's one step closer to limiting those pesky humans to the back seats. The company's self-driving car research program has created its first real-world prototypes—and it's turned them loose on the streets of Pittsburgh.

The cars, a fleet of hybrid Ford Fusions, has been whipped up by [Uber's Advanced Technologies Center](<https://www.uberatc.com/>), located in the Steel City. Each Ford is outfitted with a battery of sensors that would make [a Zumwalt Class destroyer](<https://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/1158/us-navy-launches-the-tesla-of-destroyers>) jealous; like many nascent self-driving vehicles, it uses laser scanners, radar arrays, and high-resolution cameras to navigate. A human driver does remain behind the wheel at all times, ready to seize control if the car encounters a situation it can't control—for example, if a helmet-less Ben Roethlisberger swerves into its lane.

Residents of Da Burgh shouldn't start looking for a "Uber Bot" option on their apps, though. The cars aren't picking up fares; instead, they're being used to collect mapping data while the engineers perfect the autonomous capabilities.

While [Uber announced the self-driving Fords' existence in a May 19 blog post](<https://newsroom.uber.com/us-pennsylvania/new-wheels/>), the company has actually been testing the cars around Pittsburgh for several weeks, according to the Pittsburgh-area Tribune-Review. [Uber ATC head John Bares told the newspaper](<https://triblive.com/news/adminpage/10484013-74/driving-self-car>) that the city's combination of tight streets, steep hills, sagging infrastructure, and mercurial weather made it an ideal trial-by-fire for autonomous cars.

“We have the world's best test site right at our doorstep,” [Bares said](<https://triblive.com/news/adminpage/10484013-74/driving-self-car>). “We view it as, it's not quite Everest, but it's a hard mountain...but the beautiful thing is we do have that mountain right out of our front door to climb.”

## Author
Will is the former managing editor of *RIDES Magazine* and the former online editor for *0-60 Magazine*. He has worked for *Time Out New York* and *Rolling Stone*, and was the creator of *College Cars Online*, the first automotive blog specifically targeted at college students and young professionals.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/willsabelcourtney>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/willscourtney>)