Nuro receives driverless testing permit ahead of Uber robotaxi service launch
Key takeaways
- Nuro has been granted a permit to begin driverless testing of Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with its autonomous tech on California public roads — vehicles that will eventually be used in Uber’s premium robotaxi service.
- This latest driverless permit allows Nuro to test the Lucid vehicles without a human safety operator behind the wheel.
- The driverless permit is one of many regulatory hurdles that Nuro must clear before Uber can launch its premium robotaxi service.
Nuro has been granted a permit to begin driverless testing of Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with its autonomous tech on California public roads — vehicles that will eventually be used in Uber’s premium robotaxi service. But the Silicon Valley-based startup, backed by Nvidia and Uber, says it isn’t quite ready to begin.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles, the agency that regulates the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles in the state, confirmed to Tech Crunch on Tuesday that it modified Nuro s driverless AV permit to include Lucid Gravity vehicles.
Nuro has held a driverless permit for six years, but it only applied to operate a low-speed delivery vehicle — a program that was scrapped when the startup pivoted its business model to focus on licensing its technology to companies like Uber.