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General Motors may have taken a back seat in the robotaxi race after the collapse of autonomous robotaxi venture Cruise back in 2024, but the company is not resting on its self-driving laurels.
Since then, the Detroit automaker has turned its attention to developing autonomy in personal vehicles, announcing yesterday that it would begin testing its hands-free, eyes-off driving system on public highways this week.
GM will originally deploy 200 test vehicles in the states of California and Michigan before expanding operations to other localities.
The news comes following the announcement that General Motors will be launching its Level 3 autonomous vehicle service by 2028, starting with its Cadillac Escalade IQ electric SUV before expanding to include other models in its lineup.
Each vehicle will be equipped with a safety driver who can take control of the vehicle if intervention is required, including when a vehicle encounters unusual road conditions such as severe roadworks or extreme weather.
Speaking at the Bank of America’s Global Automotive Summit, CFO Paul Jacobson described the launch as a “pretty remarkable opportunity” for the company, positioning the automaker at the front line of the race to commercially scale Level 3 autonomy in personal vehicles. He said:
“It will start a little bit slowly because it’s only going to be on one model, but we want to make sure we get the integration work done and fully integrated into the vehicles, and you’ll see it expand pretty rapidly after that.”
General Motors is among several automakers banking on the development of autonomous technology in personal vehicles. Historical rival Ford has announced its own plans to roll out Level 3 autonomy in personal vehicles by 2028. Meanwhile, electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, Inc. has offered its “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) system in consumer vehicles since 2020; however, the system still requires active driver supervision and does not meet the criteria for Level 3 autonomy.
EV start-up Rivian Motors may have just signed a $1.25bn robotaxi deal with Uber, but it too is banking on personal autonomy by the end of the decade.
Speaking to MOVEmnt.net, CEO RJ Scaringe described Rivian’s stance on autonomy as “bullish”, imagining a world where your vehicle could pick up your kids whilst you worked late or drop you at the airport whilst you finished off a project. He said:
“We believe we will get to Personal Level 4 by the end of the decade and, of course, on the way, get to Level 3.”
Whilst autonomy in personal vehicles may seem like a distant vision, GM is banking on the data collected from more than 1 million miles of roads in 34 states over the last six months to help it meet its ambitious autonomy timelines.
GM also claims that it will be using data collected from the failed Cruise venture in San Francisco, as well as from more than 800 million miles of Super Cruise “eyes-on, hands-free” driving across its passenger fleet, to inform its pursuit of personal autonomy.
Trials will begin on highways this week, with the hope of expanding to driveway-to-driveway journeys following successful testing.
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