Cruise Origin, the original driverless taxi

Origin. © Cruise LLC.

Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors specializing in autonomous vehicles, unveiled Origin, its first car to function without human intervention. The electric vehicle with no steering wheel, pedals or even a dashboard was designed with space and comfort in mind, unlike other autonomous vehicles, which are adaptations of traditional cars, like Waymo’s cars based on Toyota Priuses, Lexus SUVs and Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans. Cruise says that their vehicle, developed in partnership with Honda, will be launched as a driverless taxi service. Though they were unable to say when this might be, they did insist that the Origin is a production-ready vehicle and not a mere prototype. Just don’t expect to see the Origin on your street anytime soon, since driverless cars do not meet the US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, which set out requirements for motor vehicle design, construction, performance and durability. For now, the Origin will be used in private, closed spaces like GM’s plant grounds in Michigan. The car build has submitted an application to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in order to obtain an exemption from specific FMVSS regulations, which would allow it to operate the Origin in public spaces.

⇨ YouTube, “Meet the Cruise Origin.”

⇨ YouTube, “Exclusive look at Cruise’s first fully driverless car.”

⇨ The Verge, Andrew J. Hawkins, “Exclusive look at Cruise’s first driverless car without a steering wheel or pedals.”

⇨ Mashable, Sasha Lekach, “Cruise Origin reimagines the driverless car as a spacious box made for ride-sharing.”