GM's Cruise Cars Return to the Roads in Three U.S. States, Although Not Providing Ride-Hailing Services.
After being spotted by WIRED, GM has confirmed that a limited number of Bolt EVs equipped with sensors have been refurbished.
Recently, Cruise's robotaxis have returned to the roads, although not in the way one might think. General Motors decided to shut down its autonomous taxi business last year but has begun repurposing some of the vehicles in an effort to develop new driver assistance technologies.
This week, an electric GM Bolt was spotted on the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge, along with another similar vehicle on Interstate 880 near Oakland. In both cases, the car was being driven by a person, although it had equipment on the roof that included lidar sensors, similar to those used in Cruise's transportation system. While the vehicle had the word "Mint" written on the hood, it did not have any obvious Cruise branding.
GM spokesperson Chaiti Sen confirmed that the company is using a limited number of Cruise Bolts on certain highways in Michigan, Texas, and the Bay Area to conduct tests with trained drivers aimed at improving simulation models and advanced driver assistance systems. Sen clarified that this is an internal testing process and does not involve members of the public as passengers.
After GM fully acquired Cruise in February, the company removed the orange and white Cruise logo from the sides of the cars. Recent activities began in Michigan and Texas in February and in the San Francisco Bay Area in mid-April. Each vehicle in the Cruise fleet had a name, and "Mint" has been among those now active in the Bay Area.
This testing effort demonstrates how GM is trying to give a second life to a fleet of hundreds of vehicles that were left over from a costly project that failed. GM acquired a majority stake in San Francisco-based Cruise in 2016, investing over $8 billion in the development of a robotaxi service. The operation started off strong and had plans for rapid expansion until October 2023, when a Cruise vehicle hit a pedestrian who had previously been struck by a human-driven car.
Following the incident, Cruise provided misleading information to state regulators, lost a key permit, halted its operations, and laid off a quarter of its employees. After several attempts to restart the business, GM announced last December that it would completely cancel the experiment. At that time, GM's CEO, Mary Barra, indicated that operating a fleet of robotaxis was a costly distraction from the core automotive manufacturing business.
However, the technology behind Cruise is helping to enhance the Super Cruise system, which is about seven years old and is found in some GM models. This system is designed to assist drivers in staying in their lane, changing lanes, or applying emergency braking without needing to use their hands.
Several automakers are in a race to develop vehicles that can take on an increasing number of driving tasks. GM claims that around 60% of its 360,000 Super Cruise customers regularly use this feature. In the U.S., the robotaxi industry has been dominated by Waymo; however, Elon Musk's Tesla and Amazon's Zoox are also trying to catch up.
The Bolts being repurposed by GM are integrated into the roads of the San Francisco area, where it is common to see cars equipped with heavy computing technology on the roof, rear, and sides. These include not only companies testing sensors and algorithms but also mapping providers collecting data and enthusiasts trying to enhance their personal vehicles.
