M/T: GM Cruise

Non-repair car talk
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kevm14
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

M/T: GM Cruise

Post by kevm14 »

https://www.motortrend.com/news/cruise- ... no-driver/
https://www.motortrend.com/news/cruise- ... C4040AF3FA
The Origin doesn't have much performance to brag about, but it has the aerodynamics necessary for highway speeds (to serve airport runs, for example) and much effort went into a smooth ride so passengers, especially those with their backs to the road ahead, are comfortable.

Whenever the Origin goes into production—no dates were given—it will not be offered for retail sale, meaning you can't actually buy one. The vehicles are owned and operated by Cruise itself. Ammann insists it will cost about half as much to build as a conventional luxury electric SUV, such as Tesla's Model X. That's based on a few assumptions, including all driver functions being stripped out, the modular nature of the vehicle, and the economies of scale expected when riders discover it is a more affordable way to go. Further economies of scale are expected when a package delivery version comes later. That model replaces the Origin's tram-style doors with a yawning garage door that rolls up and down.

No matter how you slice it, Cruise is essentially developing a $50,000 vehicle that can operate around the clock—with time off for quick charging—until it exhausts its one-million-mile lifespan. Ammann would not give the vehicle's range per charge, which would affect operational downtime needed for charging, but an Origin's life will be a busy one regardless.
GM and Cruise figure it already costs us about $5,000 a year to get around, whether that means expenses for your own car and parking or hailing someone else to drive you. Cruise CEO Dan Ammann says his vehicle is substantially less expensive to build and will have a lifespan of 1 million miles, and the ride service it offers will also be less expensive to use. That's about as specific as Cruise is getting for now. When Cruise gets the government approvals it needs to commercially launch its ride-share service—potentially soon—it will start with the third-generation Cruise vehicles, which are based on the Chevrolet Bolt. They still have steering wheels and other controls, but the plan is to not put a driver behind them.
The 1 million mile lifespan is interesting. That tells you that the worst thing for cars is their drivers. When you look at the various million mile stuff, like that Chevy with the driver's seat that wasn't completely failed, it actually checks out. Aside from the fleet-style maintenance, performance is modest and it's computer driven so it will NEVER experience hard cornering or hard acceleration so I would assume components live a life as easy as possible from that standpoint.

This reminds me, just a little bit, of the old GM buses that were engineered for an extremely long life (some are still on the road, and I'm going back to the 1940s here), as well as their FWD GMC motorhome that was also made to last.
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