GM puts pieces in place for robo-taxis in San Francisco
General Motors has created its own ride-hailing platform and quietly built one of the largest charging stations in the US to get its Cruise self-driving car unit ready to enter the robo-taxi business next year.
Cruise has installed 18 fast chargers in a parking facility near San Francisco’s Embarcadero, the welltrafficked boulevard along the city’s eastern shoreline where Uber Technologies and Lyft have busy drivers. And GM’s self-driving car unit has been testing its own Cruise Anywhere ride-hailing app and fleet-management system, said people familiar with the matter.
The largest US automaker has long planned to start a ride-hailing business using self-driving cars by 2019, but it hasn’t said where the service would start or whether it will work with a partner. These latest moves show that the Golden Gate City is where GM is assembling the pieces to launch its own rival to Alphabet’s Waymo next year if the Detroit-based company decides against working with an established livery app like Uber’s or Lyft’s.
“It’s an indication that Cruise is getting ready to commercialise autonomous ride-hailing services for the public and it will be in San Francisco ,” said Gray son Br ulte,c o-founder of autonomy consulting firmBrulte& Co .“I imagine they would want to own and operate the service .”
A GM spokesman said only that the auto maker is still working toward com mer ci ali sing its self-driving car service and that the company hasn’ t decided whether to own the business or find partners. He declined to comment on the location.
What’ s clear is that GM is building the resources to manage both the cars and the interface with consumers. Its ride-sharing platform could be used on its own or be tailored to interface with a partner, one person said. Cruise has emerged as one of Chief Executive Officer Mary Bar ra’ stop initiatives since GM acquireditin2016.