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Cruise AVs Now Testing In Charlotte, North Carolina

Autonomous vehicles from GM’s robotaxi subsidiary Cruise have just begun testing in Charlotte, North Carolina’s biggest city, according to a tweet on X, bringing Cruise AVs to the ninth metropolitan area across the U.S.

Cruise promises in its tweet that there are “more details to come” and that it continues to “work towards going driverless in your city.”

Side view of the Cruise AV.

The robotaxi company has achieved a number of milestones in recent days. Its expansion to new urban areas has picked up the pace, with Cruise AVs starting testing in Atlanta, Georgia earlier this month after putting autonomous wheels on pavement in Tennessee’s Nashville in late July.

Cruise also gained a major concession from the California Public Utilities Commission in its original test city, San Francisco, in recent days. The Commission voted to allow Cruise and Waymo robotaxis to operate across Frisco 24 hours a day, seven days a week, lifting previous limitations that corralled AVs within certain neighborhoods and times.

The company’s driverless Chevy Bolt EV robotaxis have also passed the 4 million mile mark of autonomous operation, so far without major accidents, injuries, or deaths. CEO and co-founder of Cruise Kyle Vogt noted that the AVs are now “driving at a pace exceeding 1 million driverless miles per month.”

Rear three quarters view of the Cruise AV.

The advance of Cruise has proceeded strongly, but with occasional speed bumps and teething pains as well. The volume of signals emitted by a recent music festival in North Shore scrambled the wireless navigation of 10 to 12 Cruise AVs, causing a traffic jam on some of the Frisco neighborhood’s principal streets. The event led to complaints from city officials, whose objections to California’s expansion of Cruise AV service in the city were overruled.

The absence of a driver in Cruise AVs has also caused a trend of riders engaging in sexual liaisons in the compact vehicles, despite the lack of window tinting and the presence of cameras monitoring and recording the interior. Other reports indicate increasing instances of recreational drug use during Cruise rides.

Side overhead view of the Cruise AV.

Cruise is currently awaiting NHTSA approval for its ground-up autonomous EV design, the Cruise Origin, which will be more economical to operate than the current Cruise AV. The Origin is also more spacious, potentially giving riders the room to engage in hanky-panky on an almost ancient Roman scale.

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Comments

  1. Cruise have just begun testing in Charlotte, North Carolina’s capitol and biggest city

    Charlotte is not the capital of North Carolina… its Raleigh

    Reply
  2. Wow. Charlotte looks just like San Francisco.

    Reply
  3. Does anyone know, when these things stall, are you trapped inside or can you exit when you want to?

    Reply
    1. You’re free to end trip anytime, as long as the car isn’t moving. If there’s a reason they stop, there’s always an employee within a few minutes away to assist the car physically. Additionally, virtual support can also assist the vehicle to keep moving.

      Reply

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