It has been a rough year for GM and its $2.1 billion investment in autonomous vehicle (AV) company Cruise. After one of the cars dragged a pedestrian on a San Francisco street, the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked Cruise’s license in October. The company then recalled all 950 of its vehicles and paused operations. This week, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt resigned, and new questions about the validity and effectiveness of AVs have increased.
In a written statement, Cruise said the recent issues could eventually make it a better company.
“The results of our ongoing reviews will inform additional next steps as we work to build a better Cruise centered around safety, transparency, and trust,” the company said in a statement. “We will continue to advance AV technology in service of our mission to make transportation safer, cleaner, and more accessible.”
Regarding the future of AVs, however, some say the Cruise problems should be a signal to slow down.
“One of the issues we’ve observed is that we’re rushing through it. The technology is 99 percent there, but that 1 percent is causing all the issues,” said Ali Hajbabaie, an associate professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University and one of the authors of a study using computer simulations to highlight safer driverless vehicle use.
“I think with Cruise, things are going too fast. One of the issues is that traffic engineers are not involved in what they’re doing.
“The majority of the people working in the automotive vehicle industry are computer scientists and electrical and computer engineers. We need to have more people with expertise in traffic and safety and how humans interact with each other.”
GM purchased Cruise in 2016 and eventually brought on Honda, SoftBank, Walmart, and Microsoft as investors before acquiring SoftBank’s ownership stake for $2.1 billion in 2022. GM’s stated bet was that its investment would result in $50 billion in revenue by 2030.
Jeff Gilbert, who has covered the auto industry for Detroit-based WWJ Newsradio 950 since 2005, told The Epoch Times that GM took a sizable risk in autonomous cars compared to other automotive companies.
“GM has thought all along that Cruise was going to be a big revenue maker for them,“ Mr. Gilbert said. ”They are heavily invested versus Ford, which over a year ago started looking at all their expenses and decided to get out of it and spend money on limited automation.
“Toyota is another that is developing the technology, but feels self-driving vehicles are a long way off. There’s hands-free involved with their Guardian system, but the technology only takes over at the last second.”
Cruise launched AV taxi and ride-sharing in the past few years in cities including Phoenix; Charlotte, N.C.; Austin, Texas; Houston; Dallas; San Francisco; and Miami. The company employed an app that allowed riders in those cities to schedule cars like they would an Uber or cab. But the criticism that the company was attempting to do too much too soon hovers over the issues that Cruise has faced this year.
“Scaling AV operations for these companies is essential to recoup large investments; however, doing so with a measured approach is key while under the focus and scrutiny of the cities [in which] they are operating and the general public,” Brock Walquist, a senior analyst for automotive data and analysis company S&P Global Mobility, told The Epoch Times.
He believes that, if anything, Cruise’s public problems, such as those in San Francisco, are in danger of deflating public trust in AVs.
“High standards and expectations for the safety and performance of AVs are critical to build and maintain the trust of communities that autonomous ride-hailing services will be offered in. While incidents will not accelerate the adoption of AVs, safe and positive interactions with the technology in areas of operation can be leveraged as opportunities to establish consumer trust and willingness to use these services moving forward,” Mr. Walquist said.
In the San Francisco incident, which preceded Cruise recalling its cars and pausing operations, a woman was seriously injured after a hit-and-run driver struck her, pushing her into the path of a Cruise vehicle that trapped her underneath. Rescue tools were needed to extract her, and she suffered multiple injuries.
Mr. Hajbabaie said incidents such as that one could erode public trust and that he hopes that companies will do more research and testing before putting AVs back on public streets.
“Often, when we have situations like this, there will be more scrutiny and less trust in the technology,“ he said. ”But it’s not just Cruise. We’ve had issues with Tesla, too.
“All of these companies that are investing in the technology should roll it out when it’s more mature. There is a need for testing because these cars are going to learn from driving on the road. They need more tests on closed tracks and using simulations.”
