Today, January 12, General Motors will unveil a brand new driverless concept car with no steering wheel or pedals. We received the first exclusive photo of the car’s interior and even a demonstration video.
Cruise Automation, the autonomous car unit of General Motors, will submit a report today to the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). This report will provide details on GM’s plans to safely deploy cars with self-driving tech on the road.
Kyle Vogt, the CEO of Cruise Automation, said last November that their plans for self-driving deployment do not involve small-scale pilots, which raised questions on road safety. The to-be-submitted report is expected to bring more clarity in this respect.
Now, it is not yet clear whether GM will unveil a working prototype or only the concept. But as per the revealings via the photo and video, it is safe to expect the working model.
We don’t have specific details on the ‘when’ and the ‘how many’ for now, but a last-midnight update states that the restrictions on roads for GM driverless car deployment have been lifted. It further states that the company aims to manufacture an ‘unspecified’ number of driverless cars.
Multiple reports are saying that GM is still communicating with the NHTSA for permission to deploy cars without brake pedals or steering wheels. It is not clear if the company will wait for the permissions before launching productions.
General Motors has another additional plan to come up with a ride-sharing service in 2019 via deploying fully autonomous cars, according to an announcement in the last fall.
Stay tuned to us for the next update on this!
