Artificial Intelligence controlled robot taxis are quickly becoming prominent in major population centres. Despite the reduced cost of driverless taxis, the automatic transport industry is losing millions daily.
How robot taxis are losing so much money
Reported by InsideEVs, General Motors’ latest fleet of driverless taxis are not bringing in the profit many expected. Sans human workforce, the automatic chauffeurs are still losing money.
CEO Mary Barra believes that Cruise, the company’s autotaxi line, will earn $50 billion profit by the end of 2030. However, in its current form, the service is not hitting those target numbers anytime soon.
According to reports, the automated taxis are millions in the hole. The report revealed that Cruise robot taxis have lost $5 million every day for a considerable while. In total, the initiative has lost $5 billion.
Despite offering driverless services during and after a worldwide pandemic, there’s seemingly not enough bite compared to services like Uber. But will that always be the case?
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The Issues with Cruise
Poor sales are not the only part of General Motors’ auto-taxi business that has been failing. On top of low bite, the service has been mired with technical issues that have plagued the city of San Francisco.
In one instance, the driverless taxis completely shut down across the city, causing major traffic in a number of busy routes. This issue has been said to have happened numerous times during testing.
Furthermore, the robot taxis have been involved in numerous crashes. With these technical shortcomings, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has started investigations into the service.
The issues with Cruise may be fixed, and it may become profitable in the future. However, as it is now, the auto-automobiles are struggling. Is widespread adoption inevitable?