TechDogs-"Will GM’s Cruise Beat Autonomous Vehicle Industry Competitors With Its Latest Move?"

Emerging Technology

Will GM’s Cruise Beat Autonomous Vehicle Industry Competitors With Its Latest Move?

By TechDogs Bureau

TD NewsDesk

Updated on Wed, Aug 9, 2023

Overall Rating
When we say “AV” you say - no, not Audio-Visual!

We’re talking about Autonomous Vehicles – you know, the ones that allow you to sit back and enjoy a driverless experience, talk to the people you’re traveling with, aimlessly scroll through social media or even indulge in your preferred AVs (this time we’re talking about audio-visuals!).

Of course, we’re still years away from completely transforming the transportation sector with autonomous vehicles.

However, one has to start somewhere and grow from there. This is why companies choose limited launches of products – to get a better understanding of their consumers’ response to the product and its liabilities.

General Motors-owned Cruise is looking to do just that, as it increases the number of cities where it offers its robotaxis, a service that consists of driverless taxicabs, as well as expanding service areas in cities that already have the service.

Recently, the company made a string of announcements talking about its expansion plans across Phoenix, Arizona.

What’s the plan? Let’s explore:
 

What Is Cruise Doing In Phoenix?

 
  • Cruise is expanding the area covered by its robotaxi in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, by around 20 times of what it previously offered.
  • Essentially, Cruise will be competing with Google’s Waymo, in Phoenix and surrounding areas.
  • In comparison, Waymo has been operating a paid, driverless robotaxi service running 24/7 since 2020. Recently, Waymo even doubled its service area to include areas downtown and to the airport in cities like Chandler.
  • While Cruise will have to compete in these areas, the company is proud of “its ability to rapidly expand its geofenced boundaries”.
  • According to Elizabeth Craig Conway, a Cruise spokesperson, “The AV [autonomous vehicle] is learning from the more than 3 million driverless miles the fleet has driven and continuously learns and improves with each mile.”
   

What Are The Details Of Cruise’s Phoenix Plan?

 
  • Cruise will be expanding its service area around Phoenix, which includes Tempe and Scottsdale, as per a map shared by the company’s CEO, Kyle Vogt on Twitter.
  • As of now, the service will be free and available from 7 pm to 2 am.
  • It will be offered to “power users” before being made available to others. Power users are members who regularly provide feedback to Cruise.
  • This follows the model used in San Francisco of offering extended area coverage at night for power users.
  • Cruise hasn’t disclosed the number of vehicles it will be adding to its fleet as yet.
   

What’s Next For Cruise?

 
  • In the last few weeks, Cruise has made a few announcements regarding its planned operations and its expansion.
  • At present, the company offers its services in varying numbers in San Francisco (California), Austin (Texas) and, as mentioned, Phoenix (Arizona), while it’s testing out its autonomous vehicles in Dallas (Texas), Houston (Texas), Miami (Florida), Nashville (Tennessee) and more recently Atlanta (Georgia).
  • The Atlanta test run announcement came courtesy of a tweet (or X post, to be precise) by the company which read, “Today we begin our initial testing across the city and we can’t wait to see what each neighborhood has to offer. More to come soon.”
  • Speaking about how the company is revving up the number of cities in which it offers services, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt expressed over a series of tweets, “Since each new city requires less work than the last, we’ve been able to ramp up the rate at which we launch in new cities,” and added, “On top of all that, each time we add a new city, the performance in our current cities keeps getting better.”

While Cruise is cruising on its crusade to capture more cities, one has to wonder what all this means for its competitors. Certainly, Cruise has got a “first mover” advantage in the autonomous service industry. However, will it be enough to topple established leaders such as Waymo and Tesla?

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

First published on Wed, Aug 9, 2023

Enjoyed what you've read so far? Great news - there's more to explore!

Stay up to date with the latest news, a vast collection of tech articles including introductory guides, product reviews, trends and more, thought-provoking interviews, hottest AI blogs and entertaining tech memes.

Plus, get access to branded insights such as informative white papers, intriguing case studies, in-depth reports, enlightening videos and exciting events and webinars from industry-leading global brands.

Dive into TechDogs' treasure trove today and Know Your World of technology!

Disclaimer - Reference to any specific product, software or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by TechDogs nor should any data or content published be relied upon. The views expressed by TechDogs' members and guests are their own and their appearance on our site does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by TechDogs' Authors are those of the Authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of TechDogs or any of its officials. While we aim to provide valuable and helpful information, some content on TechDogs' site may not have been thoroughly reviewed for every detail or aspect. We encourage users to verify any information independently where necessary.

Tags:

Autonomous (Mobility)Emerging Technology Autonomous Vehicles General Motors Cruise Waymo Google Tesla Robotaxi Self-Driving Driverless Expansion Phoenix San Francisco USA

Join The Discussion

- Promoted By TechDogs -

IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Modern Endpoint Security for Midsize Businesses 2024 Vendor Assessment