WSJ News Exclusive | GM’s Cruise Seeks Regulatory OK to Test Shuttle With No Steering Wheel

In its application, Cruise said it would begin test runs of the electric Origin in a confined area of San Francisco during limited hours and gradually expand over time.

While GM and Cruise push ahead on plans to commercialize robotaxis, other players have pulled back, expressing doubts about whether the technology can support a viable business any time soon.

On Wednesday,

Honda Motor Co.

said it would focus for now on partially autonomous driving technology to improve safety with executives adding that full self-driving cars are proving harder to develop than expected.

Honda is an investor in Cruise, having committed $750 million in 2018 with plans for an additional $2 billion in coming years.

A Cruise spokesperson said the driverless startup plans to launch Origin testing once it received necessary regulatory approval and permits.

“Cruise has submitted, and the DMV has approved, multiple permit applications in the past. We look forward to working with the DMV to facilitate the review and resolve any questions they might have,” the spokesperson said.

The California DMV said it doesn’t comment on pending applications or their status and there isn’t a specified timeline for completing the review process.

Deploying the Origin on public roadways would mark a milestone in Cruise’s efforts to stand up a robotaxi business. Cruise eventually plans to operate thousands of the podlike shuttles in a service that would span several U.S. cities and bring in $1 billion in annual revenue by 2025 and $50 billion annually by 2030, GM has said.

Before the end of the year, Cruise aims to expand its robotaxi service using the retrofitted Chevy Bolts to Austin, Texas, and Phoenix. It plans to enter more cities next year with thousands of autonomous vehicles, including some Origins, produced by GM and operated by Cruise, executives have said.

Cruise, which is majority-owned by GM, for years has tested in San Francisco with Chevy Bolts equipped with software, sensors and other gear to allow for driverless capability. In June, it began offering rides in those vehicles to paying customers in San Francisco.

The Origin is Cruise’s first vehicle built from scratch to serve as a driverless people mover. The shuttle has a boxy, rectangular shape with doors that slide open rather than out and seats facing each other to allow passengers to converse.

GM plans to begin building Origins in volume at GM’s main electric-vehicle factory in Detroit next year, Cruise Chief Executive

Kyle Vogt

told analysts in October.

The move contrasts with other car companies that have recently scaled back their pursuit of full self-driving technology.

Last month,

Ford Motor Co.

and

Volkswagen AG

shut down their jointly owned autonomous-vehicle developer, Argo AI. Each of the auto makers said it would redeploy resources to develop partially automated driving features that can be used in its vehicles sooner.

If permission is granted, Cruise’s permit would only allow it to test the Origin without passengers. To transport people, Cruise would need authorization from a separate California regulator that oversees commercial vehicles, according to the DMV application.

Cruise intends to operate the Origin in the city and county of San Francisco at speeds up to 35 mph at all hours of the day, except when inclement weather is present, the application shows.

Since mid-October, Cruise has been testing a human-operated prototype of the Origin on San Francisco streets for data-collection purposes, Mr. Vogt has said.

In its application to the California DMV, Cruise said it has developed a suite of tests specifically tailored to autonomous vehicles to verify the Origin’s capabilities and on-road compliance with vehicle regulations and industry standards.

Still, the driverless-car division has encountered some setbacks.

In September, Cruise said it recalled the software used in its driverless Bolts, after a crash that resulted in minor injuries. Cruise said it updated the software and the action didn’t affect or change its on-road operations.

Additionally, the driverless-car operator has encountered troubles with cars stalling in roadways and blocking traffic—incidents that have required employees to retrieve vehicles, Cruise has said.

A company spokesman said safety is a priority in everything Cruise does. If its cars encounter situations where they aren’t able to safely proceed, they pull over, turn their hazard lights on and a team is typically on site in 10 minutes, he said.

Federal regulations allow GM to deploy the Origin for testing purposes. But to launch commercial service with the driverless shuttle, GM would need an exception to federal motor-vehicle standards.

GM asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in February to grant it a temporary exemption to allow it to operate a limited number of vehicles without steering wheels or manual controls on public roadways, according to a petition submitted to regulators.

The request remains pending. Cruise said it continues to work closely with NHTSA throughout the review process.

Write to Ryan Felton at [email protected]