GM autonomous vehicle and robotaxi subsidiary Cruise has been bleeding money since the start of its operations, but its CEO Kyle Vogt said the situation is improving as operating cost per mile continues to drop steadily during 2023.
Vogt’s remarks were quoted in the recently released Q2 2023 earnings presentation by Cruise, a document which itself bears the optimistic title “Strong First Half Builds Momentum.”
Operating costs per mile for Cruise autonomous vehicles or AVs has fallen by an average 15 percent monthly over the first half of 2023, according to Vogt. He added that costs are being cut sharply in four key areas, including optimizations, infrastructure, automation, and “process improvements.”
Vogt also pointed to efficiency improvements helping reduce the costs of simulation and machine learning used to test and improve AV performance. Vogt also cited the ground-up autonomous vehicle built by Cruise, the Cruise Origin, as a significant source of savings once it is eventually approved by the NHTSA. The Origin is designed for simplicity, longevity, and reliability, all of which help cut costs.
“We’ll start to see costs head below $1 per mile, the magic threshold at which robots actually become cheaper for most people than owning a car,” Vogt said about the impact he expects from the AV architecture and microchips Cruise has developed for future use.
Thus far, lacking NHTSA approval to appear on public roads in its driverless configuration, the Cruise Origin has only been tested on city streets in a variant housing a human driver. This human-driven Origin has been navigating the traffic of Austin, Texas since April, collecting data that will be useful for programming the eventual fully-autonomous vehicle.
Meanwhile, the road-approved robotaxi Cruise has fielded in major metropolitan areas in California, Arizona, Texas, and most recently Florida, the Cruise AV, has racked up more than 3 million driverless miles without a serious safety incident. The Cruise AV is a heavily modified Chevy Bolt EV which lacks the efficiency GM claims the purpose-built Cruise Origin provides.
Despite the Cruise AV’s relatively clean safety record, it is not without its detractors. San Francisco Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson pointed to incidents of confused robotaxis blocking emergency vehicles or impeding traffic and claimed AV technology is “not ready for prime time.”
Kyle Vogt takes a considerably different perspective and maintains that Cruise will be generating annual revenue of $1 billion by 2025. At least some third-party analysts believe that Vogt’s aggressive timetable is achievable.
As a reminder, the Cruise Origin is based on the GM BEV3 platform. The robotaxi is powered by Ultium Battery technology and motivated by Ultium Drive motors, while large-scale production, when it begins, will take place at the Factory Zero plant.
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Comments
Profitability may take a hit if they start getting fined for blocking emergency vehicle traffic. It is a fineable offense, but I’ll bet they are not getting written up (yet) as there is no driver. Frankly, I think the firetruck should just run the bolts over if they are blocking. Which of course might also hit their bottom line and prompt them to actually fix the problem and stop blocking the emergency vehicles. Really if it was your house on fire, isn’t that what we would all want the firetruck to do?
$0.36/mile…… thats what my current chevy traverse is costing me to run. Thats a much bigger, luxurious vehicle that i own, can do whatever i want with it whenever i want. I know GM’s is moving forward withe the “you will own nothing” agenda 2030, but its frankly stupid, not appealing at all to the masses and evidently insanely pricy. FYI my college car returned $0.12/mile.
Parking can cost a lot more in dense cities and you don’t tend to drive as far because everything is closer. You also might use transit or walk for some of your trips. So it depends on your use case. Car ownership has base cost level in a city and if you don’t drive much other options can become more financially attractive.
Uber or traditional cab service?
Please explain what you mean by “you will own nothing 2030” agenda….
It was a phrase coined by some Marxist at the World Economic Forum that predicted what life will be like in 2030
I sure hope my state outlaws them they are not needed and a menace on the roads.
This past weekend I paid $10.00 and $20.00 for parking for two outing in the downtown district of my city. Each event was less than a 15 mile drive from my home. This is where this AV technology will be a great advantage
Uber or a traditional cab serves the same purpose, right?
This is the “Net Jets” of public transportation…