GM’s autonomous-vehicle unit Cruise has
been given the go-ahead to carry passengers in its self-driving test vehicles
in California. The Detroit News reports that the technology company has been
authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission to transport
passengers on public highways in California. Cruise vehicles in question will
be required to be operated by a human driver who has been issued a test vehicle
operator permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
There are five other companies with
approval to carry passengers in self-driving vehicles in California. The others
include Waymo and Zoox but GM is the first legacy automaker to get such
approval.
GM currently has a pending petition with
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requesting permission to
operate up to 5,000 driverless vehicles as part of a taxi fleet to carry
people. GM’s robo-taxis would lack steering wheels and pedals. The NHTSA
recently granted Nuro approval to test its autonomous delivery vehicles without
traditional controls but has yet to make a decision on GM’s request.
In January, Cruise unveiled the Origin, an
autonomous, electric vehicle that the automaker intends to put into production.
Underpinning this vehicle is a new EV platform from General Motors and the
carmaker expects each Origin to have a lifespan of over 1,000,000 miles
(1,609,344 km).
