Audi (Julius Kielaitis/Bigstock.com)

Audi is claiming the lead in the race to get the first driverless car to market, with its luxury A8 model.

The German car giant intends to have the car on sale by 2017.

However, the A8 won't be 100% self-driven. Its autonomous driving system will only work outside built-up areas, due to current technological limitations.

Audi is “convinced it was running in front,” according to the firm's chief technical officer, Dr Ulrich Hackenberg. He also said the car would be able to drive at up to speeds of 40mph in traffic jams.

It will be four years before we see such cars able to reach speed limits, however: “The next step after this will be going up to a speed of 70-85mph in normal traffic, which will arrive within another two years [after 2017],” said Dr Hackenburg.

The A8 will still need a driver behind the wheel, in case the car is unable to navigate by itself. A warning of around 10 seconds would be given to the driver before control is handed back.

Inevitable

Dr Hackenburg believes that the driverless car is inevitable because of the safety it will bring to the roads. But there won't be a completely autonomous car for another decade, said the chief technical officer.

Changing legislation to permit driverless cars is a key factor for the delay, alongside limitations in current driverless technology.

Only Audi's range-topping cars will benefit from driverless technology to begin with. It will take some years for the systems to filter down to more affordable cars such as the A3.

So for any of our breakdown cover customers keen to let a computer drive for them, there may be some wait – at least until a 'pure' driverless car appears.