General Motors May Use AV1 Moniker For Its First Self-Driving Car

General Motors may name its self-driving vehicle the AV1, GM Inside News reports.

The publication recently uncovered a trademark application GM made for the name ‘AV1’ for use on motor vehicles. It’s reasonable to assume that ‘AV’ stands for autonomous vehicle, and could logically be applied to the first road-going self-driving car from GM’s Cruise Automation unit.

The name AV1 also conjures memories of the EV1, GM’s very first production electric vehicle that was introduced in 1996 and sold for three years.

Despite being an important car in the car manufacturer’s history, just over 1,100 units were made and were available through a lease agreement. When production ended in 1999, GM decided to crush the vast majority of the EV1s it had produced.

In March, General Motors announced that it will start production of its first autonomous car in Michigan next year. The vehicle in question has been referred to as the Cruise AV, but the production car could very well bear the AV1 moniker.

The Cruise AV will be built without a steering wheel, pedals or any other form of traditional controls. The vehicle is based on the all-electric Bolt and, as of March, more than 200 test vehicles had been produced. The company is investing a cool $100 million into the car’s production.

“We’re continuing to make great progress on our plans to commercialize in 2019,” said GM president Dan Ammann. “Our Orion and Brownstone teams have proven experience in building high-quality self-driving test vehicles and battery packs, so they are well-prepared to produce the Cruise AV.”