G.M. Says Its Driverless Car Could Be in Fleets by Next Year<br />“If government approval is granted, and G. M.<br />begins providing autonomous taxi service to end users in multiple markets, we’ll officially be living in a world of self-driving cars.”<br />Approval from the Transportation Department is expected to take several months, and then G. M.<br />would need local clearance before it could provide rides in Cruise AVs to the public.<br />That will begin in one city and scale up in that city and move to other cities after that.”<br />The cars would most likely be used initially in a ride service created by G. M., rather<br />than in a service run by an established company like Uber or Lyft, Mr. Ammann said.<br />Mr. Ammann said it was reasonable to assume that mass production of the self-driving model would take place at a factory in Orion Township, Mich.,<br />that already makes Cruise AV prototypes and the Bolt, though he said there were no firm plans.<br />Mr. Ammann said it was not clear how the department’s main auto-safety regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, would evaluate G. M.’s petition,<br />and whether the agency would test the vehicles itself<br />submitted a petition to the United States Department of Transportation seeking permission to begin operating<br />fully autonomous cars — without steering wheels or pedals — in a commercial ride-hailing service next year.
