Tech giant Google continues to test its self-driving car around Silicon Valley and this spring showed models without a steering wheel or pedals.

Cadillac announced in September it will introduce a nearly self-driving car in 2017, featuring a “super cruise” feature that allows hands- and feet-free driving on both freeways and in stop-and-go traffic.

Elon Musk of electric-car maker Teslasaid in a February interview with Bloomberg his company would be “the first company to market with significant autonomous driving function in the vehicles.”

So when will we see widespread use of self-driving cars?

“I think the answer is sooner than you previously thought,” said Nick Bell, chief information officer of Global Product Development at General Motors. Bell spoke at a panel on autonomous vehicles at the People & Technology Forum 2014 at Georgia Tech earlier this month.