WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - General Motors Co.'s (GM) autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise is planning to launch at least 1 million self-driving cars by the year 2030.
General Motors is the majority stake-holder in the autonomous company. During the General Motors investor meeting, Cruise CEO Dan Ammann showed a graphic of the subsidiary's 'exponential Cruise fleet ramp.' As per the graph, Cruise will touch 1 million or more vehicles by the end of the decade.
While Ammann did not talk much about the 2030 target, a Cruise spokesman said 'that's where the company believes it can be.'
The Cruise subsidiary has been testing robotaxis in San Francisco for many years and the company will soon be able to charge customers for rides as early as 2022, following a final permit from California.
Federal officials granted Cruise five of the six permits needed to commercially bring together a self-driving ride-hailing fleet in the state. Google's self-driving car Waymo was also given a similar permit, but that requires the vehicles to have back-up safety drivers.
Cruise plans to expand both domestically in the U.S and internationally. Earlier this year, the company signed an agreement with Dubai's roads and transport authority to exclusively supply self-driving taxis and ride service throughout 2029.
Cruise hopes to bring down the cost of calling a taxi from about $5 a mile to $1.50 a mile by removing the driver.
The subsidiary's test fleet has many custom-made Chevrolet Bolt EVs fitted with driverless technology. That fleet, which is the backbone of the operations, will be increased until a purpose-built autonomous vehicle called the Origin is produced by GM in early 2023.
In 2019, Cruise was to have launched a ride-hailing service for the public in San Francisco in 2019. The company delayed those plans to focus on more testing.
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