GM’s Electric Networked-Vehicle (EN-V), the pod-shaped hands-free electric vehicle unveiled last year, is set for release soon. Confined to metropolitan areas, we should be able to live out our Jetsons inspired fantasies a little sooner than we’d planned, once GPS technology catches up a little.

While GM does deny rumours of a set production date for the EN-V, Sam Abuelsmaid of GM’s advanced technology communications team provided some fairly advanced details in an interview with FastCompany. The technology for vehicle to vehicle communication and electrical powertrain is pretty much set up – but while field trials are set to get started in the next two or three years, imprecise GPS capabilities are pushing production deadlines about 10 years back.

Says Abuelsmaid:

A big part of autonomous capability comes from GPS. Our current precision is a maximum of three meters, which really isn’t adequate for reliable autonomous operation,” says Abuelsamid. “Over the course of the next decade or so, [they] will put up new GPS satellites to improve precision and reliability. We’re hoping that gets improved, but in the interim we can still learn a lot.

Autocar says GM is in talks with cities in China, the U.S. and South Africa to start set up infrastructure for the emissions-free vehicle as and when it goes on sale.

[Source: FastCompany]