Those early prototype self-driving cars Google gave us a glimpse of last year are going into production. According to Chris Urmson, Google's director of Self-Driving Cars, auto builders in Detroit are in the early stages of production on updated versions.
Urmson says they are being developed and assembled at "a Roush facility" and are much more refined than the early versions we initially saw, sporting working headlights among other iterations. According to reports there is currently a team numbering in the hundreds working on the project, with members located in both Mountain View and now Detroit. It appears the Detroit staff is a mix of relocated Googlers from California and a a number of locals.
Outside of that, details are scarce, although it sounds like the first run of manufactured vehicles will be shipped to California for testing. After the initial run, Google's fleet of unmanned cars will total as many as 150 vehicles. The company has come along way from the days of modding old Toyotas. While there is still likely a decent number of political hurdles to go over, the company is certainly pushing forward with its Self Driving car program.