GM's Plan For Self-Driving Cars Sounds Incredibly Bleak

General Motors has laid down a pretty bleak plan for its first self-driving cars, pretty much in direct opposition to the Tesla business model.

The giant American corporation’s CEO, Mary Barra, has said that its first fully self-driving cars will have “speed limitations” and won’t be able to operate outside pre-set geographical boundaries, while new Tesla models will optionally come with all the necessary hardware for full automation – even if owners can’t use it yet.

According to Fortune in the US, the General Motors vision for self-driving cars starts in a “controlled ride-sharing environment.” The firm has recently invested $500 million in on-demand ride service Lyft, with the intention of adding autonomous cars to the fleet. GM is also launching its own car-sharing service, called Maven. But either way, you can keep your filthy human hands off the controls, buddy.

Customers won’t even be able to buy the self-driving GMs. As well as being restricted on the road, the cars will only be leased by those early-adopters who prefer their autonomous cars slow and undemanding, as opposed to those who like them to hit 60mph in 2.7 seconds. In the wet.

Tesla boss Elon Musk has previously been quoted as saying his approach to ‘driverless’ cars is actually the responsible way to do it – he argues that increasing automation as quickly as possible will save more lives.

What’s your stance on GM’s approach to self-driving cars? Has Mary Barra got it right or wrong?