General Motors and Cruise aimed to launch an autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel, pedals or manual controls this year. That didn’t happen, but it appears the companies are getting closer to achieving their goal.
According to Reuters, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is talking with General Motors about their autonomous vehicle and will soon decide whether or not to approve it. As Administrator James Owens explained, “I expect we’re going to be able to move forward with these petitions soon.”
When pushed for a time frame, Owens said a decision would “definitely” come in 2020. He went on to say “This will be a big deal, because this will be the first such action that will be taken.”
Also Read: GM’s New Autonomous Vehicle Has No Steering Wheel or Pedals
GM appears determined to get their petition approved and the publication says CEO Mary Barra met with U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to discuss the matter. However, there are still obstacles due to the technical nature of autonomous vehicles.
Owens said NHTSA officials are “crawling through these petitions because we want to make sure” the autonomous vehicles are at least as safe as vehicles driven by humans. He went on to say there is a lot of back and forth as the government is sharing their thoughts and concerns, and then getting responses from automakers.
If the government grants GM’s petition, it would allow the company to build up to 2,500 vehicles without manual controls. These models would likely be integrated into a test fleet and could potentially become part of a robotaxi service.
