New York
CNN Business
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Honda and General Motors are teaming up to create a new generation of fully autonomous vehicles. Honda will invest $2 billion over 12 years in Cruise, GM’s self-driving vehicle subsidiary.
GM and Cruise have been building and developing a self-driving version of GM’s Chevrolet Bolt EV electric vehicle and plan to deploy a batch for public use next year. With engineering and financial assistance from Honda, Cruise will begin developing a new vehicle that will not be based on any existing vehicle, the companies said. It will represent the next step in autonomous driving, where control of human operation is completely absent.
“This is a purpose-built vehicle that will be the first mass-produced vehicle that is not limited by vehicle design and is driven by a driver,” said GM President Donald Amman.
Amman did not say when Cruise Automation’s self-driving cars will use the Bolt EV or new vehicles to ferry the public. These vehicles will only be deployed if they are determined to be safe and adequate.
Japanese technology investment bank SoftBank recently invested US$2.25 billion in Cruise, while Honda took a US$750 million stake. Investments from Honda and SoftBank combined bring a total value to Cruise of $14.6 billion.
“Self-driving cars are more than just a Silicon Valley dream,” said Zo Rahim, research manager at automotive media company Cox Automotive. “Current automakers are poised to determine the future direction and growth of mass mobility.”
General Motors shares rose 2% on Wednesday.
Honda and General Motors have been collaborating on electric vehicle battery technology and hydrogen fuel cells to extract electricity from hydrogen gas. The new partnership with Cruise Automation stems from a previous collaboration between the two companies.
General Motors (GM) claims that it is the only company currently producing self-driving cars on the production line with its self-driving Bolt EV. The companies did not say when or where the new cars would be produced.