Author: Xiaomo
Autonomous cars may be getting closer to us.
In the past, the driverless cars we saw without steering wheels and driver's seats were only concept cars on the stands of major auto shows. But on the 21st of this month, Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, really brought it into real life.
Cruise Origin is a self-driving van that can accommodate 6 adults. It occupies about the same space as a full-size car, and its height of 1980mm allows it to easily drive into any parking lot.
Completely different from the design of traditional gasoline or electric cars, Cruise Origin's exterior and interior styling make it look more like a train carriage than a car.
Its square outer shell is equipped with two-way electric sliding doors to prevent the door from being scratched by cyclists passing by.
The interior of the vehicle has two rows of seats facing each other, with a lot of legroom in the middle. Each row of seats has three sets of seats. If the middle seat is not occupied, the backrest can be lowered to serve as a central armrest to further improve riding comfort.
There is enough space under the seats to store carry-on luggage, and there are charging ports, door lock buttons, etc. next to each seat.
The most noteworthy thing about Origin is its interior design. There are no traditional vehicle control mechanisms such as driver's seat, steering wheel, accelerator, brake, etc., and there are not even wipers or rearview mirrors.
It only has a passenger seat and a start button, which is completely different from the previous self-driving test vehicle modified from the traditional Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle.
In addition, in addition to the airbags and SOS buttons that protect passengers, the interior roof is also equipped with a camera that can detect and analyze the emotions and physical conditions of passengers.
This self-driving car built by General Motors is not intended for any individual user, but is designed to provide services for people to enjoy travel. GM hopes that their Origin can bring a better car experience than the current various car rental, ride-hailing and private car services. However, GM has not yet planned a specific vehicle plan for its driverless cars, and it is estimated that it may adopt a member-customized approach in the future.
According to GM, this car has overcome the two most difficult problems of electric vehicles for most people, namely price and convenience. First of all, you no longer need to buy an electric car, and then you don’t have to worry about its charging and battery life, you just need to enjoy the services provided by Origin.
Origin’s electric powertrain part has “a very high level of enjoyment” with GM’s upcoming BEV3 electric vehicle. But because autonomous vehicles have built-in redundancy in all key components such as steering and braking, they can achieve true L5 autonomous driving.
And this car is also very smart. It will calculate the best driving route and mileage by itself, and will cruise to a charging station to recharge itself when necessary.
These intelligent functions will make Origin as a private car more profitable than other ordinary operating vehicles, because the vehicle utilization rate will be greatly improved.
Because it does not require a driver to drive, Origin can drive all day and all night; and according to GM, its manufacturing cost is lower than that of a high-range electric vehicle, about half the price of the latter.
And it can provide about 1.6 million kilometers of driving mileage during its life cycle; and for users, the biggest benefit it can bring is that it is cheaper and more convenient to use a car.
For GM, Origin not only has lower manufacturing costs, but its body is mainly made of steel and aluminum, which can adapt to several generations of sensor technology, and there is no need to re-launch a new body for each iteration. , thus saving more money for GM.
For the entire transportation environment, the arrival of Origin also has many benefits. This kind of low-cost, high-efficiency driverless ride-sharing vehicle on the road will mean fewer cars blocking traffic, fewer cars idle in parking lots, and ultimately fewer cars entering scrapyards. .
Although GM officially unveiled the Origin self-driving car, it did not disclose the price, mass production time, battery size, cruising range, rated power, charging method, maximum speed and sensor detection range of the vehicle. information.
This self-driving car is still about a year away from being officially tested on the streets of San Francisco. Before then, it may undergo some road testing in other closed environments.
In addition, the third generation of self-driving cars based on the Chevrolet Bolt will still be on the road and continue to collect data in order to make its operation more optimized and smoother.
Although GM's self-driving car seems to have a bright future, whether it can be put on the road and mass-produced depends on the support of future US regulations and policies. Recently, GM has officially submitted an application to NHTSA in order to promote the application of autonomous vehicles.
If GM’s application is approved, a large number of Cruise Origins can legally appear on the road, which also means that at least in the United States, the days of urban driving in the future are numbered. END
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.