GM and Honda could give us a stand-alone car with a minibar

Cruise Automation wants to build the ultimate autonomous car.

The company, led by Kyle Vogt, co-founder of the Twitch live streaming platform, might well be talking about its stand-alone technology around San Francisco in Chevy Bolts loaded with cameras and sensors … but after an investment of 2, 75 billion USD of Honda, look for different cars in the near future.

The cruise was purchased by General Motors and built its autonomous technology into GM cars. But now, Honda is entering the picture to see what a self-driving Cruise car looks like.

In a Wednesday morning article on investment, Vogt asked: "Should not the car of the future be equipped with giant television screens, a minibar and elongated seats?" He added that his company was working on a car with Honda that was not modified for autonomous driving, but built from the start with autonomous driving in mind.

He described the future car as "totally free from the constraints associated with the presence of a driver while driving".

For GM and Cruise, that means working with Honda, which is committed to investing $ 2 billion over 12 years to build this autonomous vehicle and develop the cruising network for what GM calls "commercial deployment". The remaining $ 750 million represents an investment in Cruise. GM still owns Cruise and continues to participate in the Autopilot program.

Cruise recently reported $ 2.25 billion to SoftBank (the same investors supporting Uber), so its valuation reached $ 14.6 billion.

Paul Asel, managing partner of Bay Area venture capital firm, NGP Capital, said in an email that self-driving cars cost more than automakers like GM had expected. "This is yet another example of [original equipment manufacturers] collaborate in response to external existential threats. "

What the Cruise-Honda-GM vehicle will look like will be guessing. Maybe that will go in the direction of Volvo with a favorable sleep arrangement, or maybe it will be something we can not even conceive of. Mr Vogt said the new vehicle will offer "an incredible user experience, optimal operational settings and efficient use of space". None of this is screaming bar-in-the-back-seat, but do not reject the possibility for the moment.