General Motors has announced that it may be rolling out a fleet of the 2017 Volt with self-driving features to the Technical Center in Michigan starting next year.
Employees at the center will be able to summon a Volt and then select their destination, after which the car will drive them there, much like an Uber, without a driver. Similar to Google's self-driving cars, the car will have its own steering wheel, brake and acceleration pedal in case the passenger needs to take over.
GM suggests that the initiative is basically a "rapid-development laboratory," an important step for the company if it wants to keep up with the likes of Google, which has accumulated thousands upon thousands of miles in testing. While the new initiative will be great for GM employees, it will also be a good way for GM to continue to test its self-driving features.
People who aren't GM employees won't get to test out GM's self-driving technology for a number of years. They will, however, get a first step when GM releases the 2017 Cadillac CT6, which will launch in 2016 and was confirmed to be the first car to ship with GM's "Super Cruise" technology.
Still, some suggest the Super Cruise is more of a small step toward autonomy than the giant leap that the rest of the auto industry seems to be heading toward making in the near future. Not only that, but the regular production 2017 Volt will not include the same self-driving features that the employees of GM will enjoy.
Via: PopSci
