Uber to Offer Cruise Self-Driving Taxis in 2025

Cruise self-driving taxis will be available on Uber starting next year following the confirmation of a strategic partnership between the pair.

The multi-year agreement states that autonomous Chevrolet Bolts from the General Motors subsidiary are to be offered on the ride-hailing platform, although it is not yet clear when in 2025 they will become available.

In the short term, Cruise’s immediate focus is to fully relaunch its own operations after a challenging 12 months.

Once up and running, the Uber service would work along familiar lines. When an Uber customer requests a ride, they could be presented with the option to have the trip fulfilled by a Cruise autonomous vehicle (AV).

The deal was hailed by both companies. 

Marc Whitten, Cruise CEO, said: “Cruise is on a mission to leverage driverless technology to create safer streets and redefine urban life. We are excited to partner with Uber to bring the benefits of safe, reliable, autonomous driving to even more people, unlocking a new era of urban mobility.”

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi added: “As the largest mobility and delivery platform, we believe Uber can play an important role in helping to safely and reliably introduce autonomous technology to consumers and cities around the world.”

Related:Uber Inks 10-year Deal With Motional Robotaxis

Uber is increasingly embracing the idea of autonomous technology, despite the fact it got rid of its own self-driving development unit in 2020.

In late July, it announced a deal with Chinese EV manufacturer BYD whereby the companies would work together to develop and produce AVs that would ultimately be available on the ride-hailing platform outside the U.S.

In America, Uber already offers rides in self-driving taxis from Cruise’s main rival, Waymo, in Phoenix, and has previously partnered with Motional in Las Vegas.

And through Uber Eats, it has also been promoting automated food deliveries with partners Serve Robotics and Cartken.

For Cruise, the deal represents a step forward after a turbulent spell. It suspended all activities across the U.S. late last year, including commercial operations across a handful of cities following an accident involving one of its self-driving taxis in San Francisco.

A pedestrian was badly injured after being dragged along the road for 20 feet by a driverless Cruise cab, having initially been struck by a human-driven car, and the company’s response led to a crisis that it has still not fully recovered from. Senior executives departed, hundreds of staff lost their jobs and Cruise was heavily criticized for its handling of the affair in an independent report.

Related:Uber Offers Waymo Driverless Taxis in Phoenix

Amid a storm of negative publicity, it took until April for Cruise AVs to return to the road . Now, armed with fresh investment of  $850 million from General Motors, it has resumed testing in Phoenix, Dallas and Houston.

Once its driverless services are fully operational again, it would be in a position to deliver on its commitments for Uber.

Separately, Cruise has agreed to recall its fleet of more than 1,200 AVs following a probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The agency launched an investigation in 2022 after reports that the AVs “may engage in inappropriately hard braking or become immobilized.”

Cruise has delivered software updates that reduce the risk of this happening and the NHTSA has closed the investigation.