GM kills autonomous car without steering wheel

General Motors’ (GM’s) Cruise self-driving unit would focus its development efforts on a next-generation Chevrolet Bolt rather than its planned futuristic Origin vehicle that would not have a steering wheel or other human controls, the carmaker said on Tuesday.

In 2022, GM filed a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) seeking permission to deploy up to 2,500 self-driving Origin vehicles annually without human controls such as brake pedals or mirrors. The agency still has not acted on the request.

The Origin vehicle, which has train-like doors and campfire seating, is indefinitely on hold and it is unclear if GM will seek to deploy it in the future.

“GM and Cruise are optimising resources to focus development of our next autonomous vehicle on the next-generation Bolt instead of the Origin,” a GM spokesperson said.

“This shift creates a more cost-effective and scalable option for pursuing an autonomous future faster, while avoiding the uncertain path to regulatory compliance in the US that could impede scaling of the Origin.”

GM in November said it had temporarily halted production of its fully autonomous Cruise Origin. Cruise told employees in November the company has produced hundreds of Origin vehicles already, and that it was “more than enough for the near term when we are ready to ramp things back up”.

GM said its decision to pause Cruise production at a Detroit plant had triggered a charge of $583m.

Investigations

Cruise faces a number of investigations, including by NHTSA, the justice department and Securities and Exchange Commission, after an October accident in which one of its robotaxis struck a pedestrian and dragged her 6m. Cruise and GM came under heavy criticism after the accident and California revoked its permit to operate driverless vehicles.

In 2018, GM petitioned the NHTSA to allow the use of a car built on a Chevrolet Bolt without steering wheels or brake pedals. In 2020, GM withdrew the petition.

GM CEO Mary Barra noted on Tuesday that Cruise in recent months had resumed testing of its robotaxis with human safety drivers in three cities and recently hired a new CEO.

Barra previously said the business could generate $50bn in annual revenue by 2030. Cruise has lost more than $8bn since 2017, and in January GM said it was cutting spending at Cruise by about $1bn.

Reuters