GM To Temporarily Halt Production of Cruise Origin Van
General Motors recently announced a pause on all autonomous vehicle operations after several high-profile accidents, one including a pedestrian. Automotive News reported that the automaker is also halting production of the Cruise Origin Van.
Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt made the announcement at a company all-hands meeting, noting that there were plenty of Origin vehicles already produced and said that there were enough to satisfy demand for the near term. The shutdown is expected to be temporary.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe into Cruise’s operations last month, looking at how the company dealt with safety precautions and pedestrian protection. It’s important to note that the Cruise Origin van we’re talking about here is different from the Chevy Bolt robotaxis the company deployed in California and elsewhere.
It’s certainly prudent for Cruise to pause operations while determining the best and safest path forward. Still, this move also illustrates the difficulties autonomous vehicles face, even when approached in a somewhat methodical fashion. Hands-off driving is available on highways and limited-access freeways, but navigating crowded city streets is on an entirely different level. Features like Tesla’s Full Self-Driving tech show promising signs of progress but are still years away from being safely deployed to the general driving public.
[Image: GM Cruise]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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brake pedals
They should have canceled it based on its looks alone.
Self-driving is right up there with 3D television, smart eye-glasses, quadraphonic audio and the 8 track tape in the realm of technologies that will soon take over the world.
best market for these is Alcapulco where going off the cliff isn't so unusual.