Ford, GM Fall Victim to Federal Robotaxi Fail

After investing an estimated $10B in its Cruise robotaxi unit, General Motors threw in the towel this week. The move followed multiple operational failures in San Francisco - including colliding with and dragging a pedestrian over a year ago.

GM's Cruise unit suffered under the combative leadership of founder Kyle Vogt, who resisted GM's efforts to more closely integrate the startup into the parent company's own self-driving tech development around Super Cruise. In spite of that failed integration GM proceeded to design and manufacture 500 Cruise Origin robotaxis - which never received the exemptions they needed from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in order to be deployed.

GM's struggles with Cruise and Origin encapsulated the ongoing debate in the robotaxi industry regarding the use of modified mass produced vehicles (a la Waymo) vs. purpose built robotaxis (Zoox, Origin) created to operate without steering wheels, accelerator and brake pedals, and mirrors. GM leaned into the purpose-built approach to no avail, while its Bolt-based robotaxis ultimately failed.

In 2018, General Motors petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to allow a car built on a Chevrolet Bolt without steering wheels or brake pedals on U.S. roads - in other words seeking an exemption from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. GM withdrew the petition in 2020 after the agency took no action.

In February of 2022, General Motors asked federal regulators for permission to build a limited number of Origin purpose-built robotaxis lacking steering wheels, mirrors, turn signals, and windshield wipers. In July of 2021, Ford Motor Company had made a similar request. Both companies were seeking to manufacture 2,500 such vehicles per year, the maximum allowed under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's exemption plan for self-driving vehicles.

Neither Ford nor GM received approval to manufacture and deploy those vehicles. The NHTSA filings, though, reflected an effort on the part of both auto makers to work within NHTSA's regulatory framework for self-driving car testing and development. The only vehicle maker to be granted an exemption was delivery bot maker Nuro, which has since pivoted away from making vehicles.

Robotaxi maker Zoox, meanwhile, seems to be taking a detour around NHTSA's exemption granting process, announcing last month that it would introduce its GM Origin-like robotaxis in San Francisco and Las Vegas in coming weeks. This means attendees of the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January might get their first peek at Zoox vehicles in action on public roads. Zoox will be taking the place of Hyundai's Motional self-driving unit which had operated in Las Vegas with safety drivers for several years but halted local operations earlier this year.

Zoox is under investigation by the NHTSA over its self-certification safety claims. Zoox has not sought NHTSA approval or exemptions.

There are those who believe the incoming Trump Administration might rein in regulatory oversight removing apparent restraints on Robotaxi development in the U.S. The reality is that regulators are not impeding autonomous vehicle or robotaxi development. It is the challenge of creating self-driving cars itself that is impeding progress.

Much has been made of the array of conflicting and confusing autonomous vehicle laws and regulations adopted by states and cities across the U.S. Some analysts insist that Federal action is necessary to establish inter-state compatibility and operation.

For details regarding state laws and regulations check here: https://www.bakerdonelson.com/autonomous-vehicle-statutes-and-regulations-across-the-50-states

The reality is that state-by-state and city-by-city regulation and acceptance of autonomous vehicles and robotaxis will be necessary before widespread adoption. Different localities will have different objectives and requirements for autonomous vehicle tech and robotaxis.

It is likely that NHTSA will play a role. The agency is currently actively investigating Waymo, Tesla, Ford, and Zoox for a variety of reasons including crash investigations. NHTSA certainly has oversight responsibility for Tesla and its self-driving development and NHTSA will also likely play a critical role in the adoption of self-driving in commercial vehicles where interstate operation is of paramount importance.

Robotaxis are likely to remain subject to local, city and state control and oversight for the foreseeable future. Cruise's failure reflects a fractured plan of action at GM. It is in no way clear, moving forward, how Cruise's development efforts can be fused with the work of GM's own Super Cruise development.

All eyes now turn, in the U.S., to Waymo and Zoox as the debate over purpose-built vs. mass produced robotaxis continues. With Waymo testing Zeekr robotaxis in San Francisco, it begs the question as to whether China-made robotaxis may represent a back door onto U.S. roadways.

Just as China has surged to become the largest auto market in the world, the largest exporter of cars in the world, and the largest maker of electric vehicles, the country is also leading the way in robotaxi development with AutoX, Baidu Apollo, Didi Chuxing, Pony.ai, and WeRide. Hopefully Waymo and Zoox can keep up, or catch up!