GMs Cruise to Resume Testing Robotaxi Service in Phoenix

Table Of Content

• Ultra Cruise will ultimately enable door-to-door hands-free driving on all public paved roads in the U.S. and Canada
• GM plans to put totally driverless Cruise vehicles back on U.S. roads: Here's how
• GM’s Cruise robotaxis are back in Phoenix — but people are driving them
• How will driverless cars ‘talk’ to pedestrians? Waymo has a few ideas
• How technology is saving lives in the operating rooms
• Partnership is essential to powering Cruise for Good: Behind the scenes of our meal delivery program
• GM’s big bet on driverless cars turns sour

Power Auto Summit in Las Vegas, ahead of the National Auto Dealers Association convention, to a crowd of mostly car dealers. Power, Reuss said it will likely take Cruise four to five years to earn back the trust of the public. It’s unclear, but GM has already tightened the reins by signaling that layoffs would be coming. Cruise has already laid off many of the contract workers who do maintenance and fleet operations for the company.

Ultra Cruise will ultimately enable door-to-door hands-free driving on all public paved roads in the U.S. and Canada

The company subsequently paused driverless operations nationwide, appointed a new chief safety officer, recalled all 950 of its vehicles, and retained an outside group to perform an independent safety audit. Still, the company called the relaunched fleet with human drivers "a critical step for validating our self-driving systems as we work towards returning to our driverless mission." General Motors' Cruise self-driving vehicle unit will redeploy cars on U.S. roadways Tuesday for the first time since October, beginning with a small fleet of human-driven vehicles in Phoenix, the company said. Cruise then recalled all 950 driverless vehicles in its fleet, shutting down its service in Austin and Phoenix.

GM plans to put totally driverless Cruise vehicles back on U.S. roads: Here's how

But now it seems like Cruise employees are at risk of losing their jobs as well. And the resignations may not be over; Dan Kan, a co-founder of Cruise and the company’s chief product officer, is also stepping down, according to a source with knowledge of the events. By Andrew J. Hawkins, transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. Sensors can see 360 degrees, hundreds of feet ahead, and around that double-parked car.

GM’s Cruise robotaxis are back in Phoenix — but people are driving them

Ultra Cruise can add features, functions and services over time through frequent over-the-air updates. Cruise has announced plans to start offering rides in Austin and Phoenix, adding those cities to its current base in San Francisco. “We continue to believe strongly in Cruise’s mission and the potential of its transformative technology as we look to make transportation safer, cleaner and more accessible,” Barra stated in an email to employees, according to TechCrunch. Cruise said in January that it "accepts" the conclusions found in the report.

How will driverless cars ‘talk’ to pedestrians? Waymo has a few ideas

The result is a ride that’s safe, efficient, and natural-looking to other drivers. Cruise cars consider multiple paths per second, constantly choosing the best ones for unexpected events and changes in road conditions. Prior to that incident, Cruise had been announcing launches in new cities — including Dallas, Houston and Miami — at a startling pace. Critics accused the company of expanding too fast and cutting corners on safety. We’re working to bring new transportation options that work for you and your community.

How technology is saving lives in the operating rooms

When people have been disconnected from driving for a longer period of time, they may overreact when suddenly taking control in an emergency situation. They may overcorrect steering, brake too hard, or be unable to respond correctly because they hadn’t been paying attention. And those actions can create a domino effect that has the potential to be dangerous — perhaps even fatal. There is still a lot of research that needs to be done to fully investigate the safety claims made by automakers around ADAS features. There have been studies that show that the handoff between the automated system and a human driver can be especially fraught.

"We have not set a timeline for deployment," said Morrissey of putting the modified Bolts back on roads. "Our goal is to relaunch in one city with supervised driving with Bolt-based Cruise AVs (autonomous vehicles) as soon as possible once we have taken steps to rebuild trust with regulators and the public." Cruise will resume manual driving of its autonomous vehicles to create maps and gather road information in certain cities, starting with Phoenix, the company said Tuesday. The GM subsidiary already had a presence in Phoenix before it pulled its entire U.S.-based fleet last year following an incident in San Francisco that left a pedestrian stuck under and dragged by a Cruise robotaxi. On an investor call, chief financial officer, Paul Jacobson, said that he expected spending to fall by “hundreds of millions of dollars” in 2024.

Partnership is essential to powering Cruise for Good: Behind the scenes of our meal delivery program

In contrast, Ultra Cruise will cover “95 percent” of driving scenarios on 2 million miles of roads in the US, the company said. Majority owned by General Motors since 2016, Cruise combines a culture of innovative technology and safety with a history of manufacturing and automotive excellence. Cruise has received funding from other leading companies and investors—including Honda, Microsoft, T. Rowe Price, and Walmart. This program will keep Cruise extremely competitive in the talent market against both public and private companies as the company enters the early commercialization phase and continues to attract and retain some of the world’s best talent. Every Cruise Origin will help reduce the world’s reliance on oil, as well as the emissions that disproportionately burden historically underserved communities. The Origin will help expand mobility options for seniors, people who are blind or have low vision, and other communities that have traditionally faced barriers in access to reliable transportation.

GM’s big bet on driverless cars turns sour

GM's Cruise loses senior VP of AV platforms - Detroit News

GM's Cruise loses senior VP of AV platforms.

Posted: Fri, 16 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Ultra Cruise will ultimately enable door-to-door hands-free driving on all public paved roads in the U.S. and Canada. GM’s two hands-free advanced driver-assist systems will coexist in the company’s lineup with Super Cruise available on more mainstream vehicles and Ultra Cruise reserved for premium entries. Cruise is also working to expand delivery services - a prototype of an Origin outfitted with lockers for goods is on the company's website. Walmart is an investor, and is currently testing Cruise delivery at eight stores in Phoenix. Delivery has "the potential to be a big part of the business," West said. Cruise is currently testing human-operated Origins in San Francisco.

Cruise cars make sense of this data in a split second, tracking every important object in view. Learn the basics of how a Cruise car navigates city streets safely and efficiently. Cruise's path to autonomous driving creates opportunities for increased mobility and independence. “We believe that the combination of different sensors, or sensor fusion, leads to the most robust hands-free driver-assist system for our customers,” said Parks. Ultra Cruise works through a combination of cameras, radars and LiDAR, developing accurate, 360-degree, three-dimensional statistical representations of the environment surrounding vehicles with redundancies in critical areas. Ultra Cruise also incorporates an integrated LiDAR behind the windshield.

WARREN, Mich. – Today, General Motors unveiled Ultra Cruise, an all-new, advanced driver-assistance technology and significant next step in the company's journey to enable its goal of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. Designed to ultimately enable hands-free driving in 95 percent of all driving scenarios, Ultra Cruise eventually can be used on every paved road in the U.S. and Canada. Most automakers have already dialed back their autonomous ambitions. Last year, Ford and Volkswagen pulled their funding from Argo AI, forcing the company to cease operations. Toyota’s vision for a futuristic city teeming with self-driving cars has been significantly delayed.

Notably, that’s different from the Level 3 systems that Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, and Ford currently have under development. With a Level 3 system, a driver could theoretically take their eyes off the road under certain circumstances, like low-speed stop-and-go traffic. Despite its enhanced capabilities, GM says it still considers Ultra Cruise a Level 2 system, as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers. At Level 2, the vehicle can control both steering and acceleration and deceleration as well as monitor blind spots and even change lanes automatically. But the driver needs to stay vigilant and keep their eyes on the road; if they don’t, the vehicle’s infrared sensors will detect it, and the system will send several warnings to the driver before disengaging.

Initially, that means taking more of a direct hand in Cruise’s operation. Barra reportedly told employees that GM general counsel Craig Glidden will serve as Cruise’s co-president alongside Mo Elshenawy, who will also become chief technology officer. Former Tesla president Jon McNeill, who’s been a board member at GM for several years, was named vice chairman of the Cruise board alongside Barra. "We have not yet made a commitment to where or when we will start supervised or driverless operations," a spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC.