.He predicted all cars would be autonomous within the next 15 years — with steering wheels eventually just a distant memory as autopilot takes over.Electric car manufacturers will have to design futuristic vehicles to entice buyers in order to ride out the challenge of plunging oil prices, Tesla co-founder Elon China electric tricycle Company Musk said on Tuesday.The system has capabilities like the “Summon” function so drivers can call the car from the garage to their side at will, like a pet.The company is taking orders for its new Model X, released this year, which boasts some self-driving facilities and Back To the Future-style “falcon-wing” doors.

The luxury all-electric US car maker, founded in 2003, rose to prominence as oil prices soared and made alternative energy vehicles more tempting.“No doubt that is going to dampen interest in electric vehicles in general,” Mr Musk told the “StartmeupHK” event.“It definitely makes the transition to sustainable energy more difficult,” Mr Musk, 44, said when asked at a business conference in Hong Kong about the impact of free-falling oil prices. Tesla itself saw shares dive earlier this month after it reported deliveries at the bottom end of its forecast for the 2015 fourth quarter.Tesla is looking to recruit 1,600 software engineers to help develop Autopilot, its autonomous car IT system and aims to have a fully self-driving car by 2018. “What we’re aspiring to do is to make the cars so compelling that even with lower gas prices, it’s still the car you want to buy,” he said.Now the fledgling industry is under pressure, said Mr Musk.