In the near future, autonomous electric cars will become the rule for drivers in New South Wales. After testing a self-driving Tesla Model S sedan, Anthony Roberts, Minister for Industry, Resources and Energy, expressed his deep admiration for the concept of autonomous vehicles. Roberts said driverless electric cars are the “future of driving” in NSW.

“I’ve fallen in love with this car. Certainly we’ll do everything we can in this government to ensure that we roll out more and more”, he said, as reported by ZDNet.

After his 10-minute test drive, Roberts also mentioned the government will do everything possible to support autonomous technology, including lobbying to eliminate the luxury car tax.

The Tesla Model S is able to speed up at 100 kilometres per hour. Tesla retails each sedan at AU$120,000. The Model S can independently steer, accelerate and brake with the help of cameras, radars and sensors.

In the meantime, Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham, who also took part in the test drive, suggested the government can take the initiative by allowing electric cars to share transit lanes, give them priority parking and considerably ease the registration process.

“The benefit of electric vehicles is enormous and certainly as we go forward, the government has a number of opportunities to incentivise the rollout of electric vehicle”, Buckingham said, according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Last Saturday, the South Australian government successfully tested two Volvo XC90 vehicleson Adelaide's Southern Expressway. Earlier this year, Volvo launched a pilot testing program that will see 100 self driving cars being tested by common people on specific roads in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2017.

The autonomous vehicle testing in Adelaide was conducted as a part of Australian Driverless Vehicle Initiative (ADVI) in association with Australian Road Research Board (AARB) Group.

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