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German car provider looks for US nod to deploy self-governing buses on US roads

A subsidiary of a German vehicle provider has asked U.S. car safety regulators for approval to deploy up to 2,500 self-governing electrical buses each year that are operated without steering wheels and other human controls, a. U.S. company said Thursday.

HOLON, a system of German vehicle provider Benteler Group,. asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for an. exemption from federal auto security standards for its automated. electrical bus that does not have pedals, manual turn signals or. mirrors needed by a human motorist.

NHTSA stated it will accept public discuss the petition. till early January.

The petition, which will not see last action before. President Donald Trump takes workplace, might clarify how the. brand-new administration methods self-driving vehicles. NHTSA has. taken a cautious technique recently.

HOLON said the car's autonomous driving system was. collaboratively established by HOLON and Mobileye.

In July, General Motors' Cruise self-driving system. stated it would desert plans to deploy its self-driving Origin. car that would not have a steering wheel. Ford last. year abandoned a comparable petition.

In 2022, GM submitted a petition with NHTSA seeking consent. to release as much as 2,500 self-driving Origin cars every year. without human controls such as brake pedals or mirrors. NHTSA. never acted upon the request and GM cited regulatory dangers for its. choice to desert the Origin.

GM will rather utilize a standard next-generation Bolt EV. as the platform for its Cruise robotaxi, a relocation that will not. need authorization of NHTSA.

HOLON stated in September it plans to put together 5,000 vehicles. each year at a 500,000-square-foot center in Jacksonville,. Florida, expected to be completed in 2026.

In February 2020, NHTSA gave a first of its kind approval. after three years of talks to U.S. robotics company Nuro to. deploy approximately 5,000 low-speed electric shipment automobiles without. human controls.

(source: Reuters)