Cruise, General Motors’ self-driving unit, has announced it will be halting development of its no-steering wheel vehicle in place of its next-generation Chevrolet Bolt.

The futuristic Origin vehicle, which is fully autonomous, has not received permission to deploy on public roads. General Motors filed a petition to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to release 2,500 of the vehicles two years ago but has reportedly still not received a response.

A General Motors spokesperson said: "GM and Cruise are optimising resources to focus development of our next autonomous vehicle on the next-generation Bolt instead of the Origin.

"This shift creates a more cost-effective and scalable option for pursuing an autonomous future faster, while avoiding the uncertain path to regulatory compliance in the US that could impede scaling of the Origin."

The announcement comes after production on the Origin was halted in November.

In November, Cruise told its employees that it had already produced hundreds of Origin vehicles. The company said it has "more than enough for the near-term when we are ready to ramp things back up".

Cruise is currently embroiled in several investigations. The company came under fire in October when one of its company’s robotaxis hit a pedestrian.

Despite the growing hype throughout the 2010s and a clear vision of bringing mobility to sections of the market that have never before had access, such as children and the disabled, the challenges and roadblocks to full deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs) have been immense.

According to GlobalData’s Thematic Intelligence: Autonomous Vehicles (2023) report, the leap taken from Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Level 1 autonomy to Level 2 has proven to be minor compared with the jump in complexity needed for Level 3 ‘eyes-off’ AV operation.

The SAE defines six levels of driving automation ranging from 0 (fully manual) to 5 (fully autonomous).

Even Level 3 vehicles will appear simple in comparison with the higher levels and capabilities demanded by truly self-driving Level 4 and Level 5 models, both of which might not include controls for human drivers, according to the report.

"Cruise halts development of no-steering wheel vehicle" was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand.

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