Cruise will launch robotaxi services in Phoenix and Austin by the end of the year

Photo by Andrej Sokolow / picture alliance via Getty Images

The CEO of Cruise said the company will launch a service in Phoenix, Arizona, and Austin, Texas, before the end of the year.

The company received permission to charge for rides in San Francisco earlier this year. In 90 days, Cruise says it can do the same in two new cities.

Through a partnership with Walmart, the company has tested self-driving vehicles in Phoenix. It hasn't deployed any vehicles in Austin, which is unprecedented.

In Austin, we are going from zero footprints to our first revenue generating rides in about 90 days. People thought it would take a long time.

It took Cruise a long time to launch its taxi service in San Francisco. After determining the technology wasn't ready, the company decided not to launch a commercial service there in 2019.

Cruise offers a variety of services in San Francisco, from daytime rides in its self-drive vehicles with safety drivers behind the wheel to nighttime trips in its fully self-drive cars. The company can't offer rides during the day.

Only a small number of operators have deployed Level 4 self-drive vehicles on public roads. The self-driving unit of Alphabet has been operating its Level 4 vehicles in the suburbs of Phoenix for a while now. In the months ahead, it will launch a paid service in San Francisco.

The L4 vehicles are being tested in Las Vegas. The Russian tech giant tested its Level 4 vehicles in Las Vegas during the Consumer Electronics Show in 2020 but has stopped doing business in the US after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Chinese tech firm started testing its vehicles without safety drivers.

In his comments today, he implied that Cruise has an advantage over its competitors due to the fact that it has a relationship with GM. Cruise will not only be able to deploy its vehicles in new cities quickly but will also be able to absorb the costs of each new launch.

He said that each market has overhead. On the one hand, the technology improvements we are making unlocks new markets, like new capabilities, and on the other hand, we are ramping up manufacturing capacity to push vehicles into those markets.

Chevy Bolt electric vehicles are part of Cruise's current fleet. The Cruise Origin is being tested at a proving ground in Michigan with plans to ramp up production next year.

The Origin is being tested on closed courses. This is the place where it is driving autonomously.

It was predicted that Cruise would make $1 billion in revenue by the year 2025.