GM wants to deploy self-driving Chevy Bolt EVs in 2019

The future of driving doesn’t involve driving – at all.

The Cruise Automation team is now testing its self-driving Chevy Bolt – with a human backup – in Detroit, Phoenix and San Francisco.

One of the standards GM is asking to be waived is the requirement for vehicles to have airbags in their steering wheels, which wouldn’t of course be possible for vehicles that don’t have a steering wheel in the first place.

The petition is for the “first production-ready vehicle designed from the start without a steering wheel, pedals or other unnecessary manual controls”, GM president Dan Ammann told reporters, according to Reuters.

“With its advanced sensor systems, the Cruise AV has the capability to see the environment around it, in 360 degrees, day and night”, the safety report adds.

While the state is a hub for robot-car development, with more than 40 companies testing vehicles, having a safety driver behind the wheel is now required. For example, the new model will have an alternative location for an airbag that would normally be in the steering wheel, Rice said. “What we can do is put the equivalent of the passenger side airbag on that side as well”.

The automaker would then need to obtain similar approval from individual US states.

News of the new robot-taxi from GM comes in the form of a Safety Petition the company filed with the Department of Transportation. A Waymo spokesman said in November that the company has tested its cars in 20 different cities.

GM, along with Alphabet Inc and startup Zoox Inc, have already demonstrated vehicles that can drive with so-called Level 4 autonomy, meaning cars that can drive without human intervention, but only in certain geographic areas, as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Today, seven states – Michigan, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Colorado, and Nevada – allow for the deployment of vehicles without steering wheels or brake pedals. In the case of an emergency, passengers will be able to access GM’s OnStar automatic crash-response system. Under state law, companies with a license to test autonomous vehicles are required to disclose all accidents, even when they are not at fault.

The software is also created to cope with any potential vehicle malfunctions to maintain safety, according to GM.

If you’re wondering how to get a vehicle with no controls to, you know, move – GM says fear not.

The New Year has just begun, but General Motors is already looking toward 2019, when it will take the next step for its self-driving cars.

“It’s the biggest assembly plant in the GM system”, Ammann said.