General Motors (GM) has petitioned U.S. regulators for permission to build and deploy a self-driving vehicle through their self-driving technology unit, Cruise. The vehicles will reportedly not have human controls like steering wheels or brake pedals.
“Cruise has taken a big step forward toward our vision of a safer, more sustainable, and accessible transportation future,” said Rob Grant, SVP of government affairs and social impact for Cruise, in a blog post. “Together with General Motors, we have filed a petition seeking approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to build and put the Cruise Origin into commercial service.”
Cruise said that the “Origin” is a zero-emission, shared electric vehicle that has been purposefully designed to operate without a human driver, which means it does not rely on certain human features like a steering wheel or sun visor to operate in a safe manner.
GM first petitioned NHTSA to allow self-driving vehicles on U.S. roads in 2018, proposing a vehicle built onto a Chevrolet Bolt foundation without steering wheels or brake pedals.
In October 2020, GM and Cruise disclosed that they had plans to seek approval from the NHTSA within months to deploy the Origin.
Currently, under the law, companies can seek to be exempt from motor vehicle safety standards for up to 2,500 vehicles for up to two years. In May 2021, Cruise pushed for Biden to back legislation that would raise the cap on the number of vehicles that can be exempted, arguing that the rules were written decades ago when it was assumed that human drivers would be in control of a vehicle.
Cruise said that the innovation of Origin is in service of environmental sustainability in a way that ensures U.S. leadership is developing and manufacturing autonomous technology and artificial intelligence, but also promoting accessibility and the American workforce.
“Every Origin will be a zero-emission, shared, electric vehicle – helping to reduce the nation’s reliance on oil, as well as the emissions that disproportionately burden historically underserved communities,” Cruise said.
“The submission of this petition signals that Cruise and GM are ready to build and deploy the Origin, here in America. We look forward to NHTSA’s thorough review of our petition and stand ready to continue working closely with them to ensure the safe and responsible deployment of this technology.”