Audi: self-driving cars still 20-30 years away

Read all the latest news from the 2015 Detroit motor show here

Bad news if you're awaiting an auto-pilot for your car.

Despite just sending an autonomous car nearly 900km from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas, Audi is adamant that fully capable self-driving cars are still at least 20 years away from showrooms.

Speaking ahead of the 2015 Detroit motor show Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said the company wants to have a highly autonomous car - but not a completely autonomous vehicle - on sale within the next two years.

"We are working to bring this into series production. This will come, let's say 2017."

However, Audi America spokesman Brad Stertz later clarified there will be a big difference between what he calls a "highly autonomous" and a "fully autonomous" car.

"We'll get to a highly automated state [soon], not fully automated, which is still many years away for everybody," Stertz said, putting the figure in the region of 20 to 30 years for a fully autonomous car to hit the market.

He explained that the difference is largely down to the conditions the technology can safely operate in, with city driving still a major challenge to overcome for self-driving cars.

"Highly automated means it can do everything on a highway, freeway and every parking situation," Stertz said.

"Urban driving is still extremely complicated because you have people backing out of driveways, four-way stops [and] people going different directions. On a freeway traffic is all pretty much going all the same way and the same amount of speed roughly so the car can calculate what's going on around it.

"When you have conditions where people could be walking out on the street or a car could back out or four-way stop signs it is a lot more challenging for the algorithm to understand every situation."

Stadler is adamant that he wants Audi to lead the way on self-driving cars, even if there is unknown interest amongst drivers to let a computer take control of their car.

"This we will see in the future," he said. "At least we are innovators and this is the most important step. Afterwards the customers will decide."

Stadler also disputed Google's claim that cars will eventually be able to get rid of steering wheels and pedals.

"They don't have any car," he said of the technology giant that has invested millions in autonomous vehicle research.

"You will see steering wheels and brakes for a long time, because the driver will always have a certain responsibility."