After its license was pulled in CA, Cruise pauses driverless operations everywhere
GM’s Cruise autonomous taxi service is pausing driverless operations everywhere after having it’s license suspended in California on Tuesday.
GM’s Cruise has had a rocky week, with California suspending the company’s license to operate as a result of misrepresentation by the company in an accident investigation.
The accident in question was actually not initially caused by Cruise’s vehicle. A human driver struck a pedestrian in a crosswalk, then fled the scene. The strike was hard enough to shove the pedestrian into the path of a Cruise autonomous vehicle, which braked heavily in an attempt to avoid the accident.
The pedestrian was then trapped underneath the Cruise vehicle, at which point the AV entered a post-accident mode where it pulled to the side of the road. This unfortunately dragged the pedestrian approximately 20 feet at a speed of about 7 miles per hour, potentially causing more injury to the already seriously injured victim.
Two problems were identified in this circumstance: first, the Cruise vehicle should have remained in place, rather than dragging the pedestrian under the car. Second, in post-accident investigations, Cruise misrepresented the facts of the accident to both the DMV and to media, by not mentioning or showing video of the post-accident movement. DMV had to learn of this from SF officials, rather than from Cruise itself.
This misrepresentation was a major cause of DMV’s decision to revoke Cruise’s license. DMV provided Cruise with a list of requirements to get back on the road, but that list is not public.
And as the news of Cruise’s misrepresentation and suspension has percolated, the public has not reacted kindly to this information. In Los Angeles, for example, where Cruise does not operate but Google’s Waymo does (on a trial basis), one politician called for the city to declare itself off-limits to driverless vehicles (we’ve ridden a driverless Waymo in LA, and came away impressed).
Now, two days later, Cruise has “proactively” made the decision to suspend its driverless operations in the other areas it operates as well, namely, Phoenix, Arizona and Austin, Texas.
Cruise says that this has nothing to do with any undisclosed on-road incidents, and that it is taking this step to examine its processes and regain public trust. It will also continue “supervised AV operations,” with a safety driver present in the cars.
Electrek’s Take
This is a good move for Cruise, and a good move for autonomous vehicles as a whole.
Cruise’s initial reaction to this incident was, simply, bad. Lying to regulators is never a good idea. It put a black mark on AVs for regulators and for the public, and reduced trust not just for Cruise, but for other autonomous vehicle systems.
As I’ve been talking about a lot for the last couple days (and, well, years), it was inevitable that people would react thusly to any problems with AVs, as it is not only a new technology and suffers from the “devil you know versus devil you don’t know” problem, but it also incorporates the theme of technological unemployment, which is becoming all the more real with the rise of AI.
In the accident in question, the human driver’s actions were certainly worse than the AV’s. The human started the accident and then fled the scene. But virtually all discussion has focused on the AV, rather than the human driver.
Cruise claimed in a blog post that its simulations showed that its car would have avoided the accident – but that blog post was not well-received, as it did not properly take responsibility for the post-accident scenario in question.
This move by Cruise today does seem to finally take responsibility for the post-accident scenario, which is a positive development. Hopefully this will let the temperature in the room cool a little, and we can have some better conversations and more responsibility going forward on the part of Cruise.
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Volvo Cars took the wraps off new-for-2026 S90 plug-in hybrid, calling the big sedan the most elegant and comfortable 90 yet, promising nearly 50 miles (80 km) of all-electric range and a comprehensive suite of high-end technology and design updates … but if you’re reading this in English, you probably can’t have one.
The updated Volvo S90 is still blinking into the spotlight, but there are already reports that Volvo Cars has decided against bringing the slick new sedan to the US. And Canada. And the UK. And … you get the idea.
That’s too bad, too – because the SPA S90 has always been a comfortable and capable performer. Alas, sedans aren’t selling, you could get whiplash trying to keep track of all the tariff news these days, and Volvo (like a lot of companies in 2025, frankly), no longer needs the English-speaking world to keep it profitable.
“The S90 is a key part of our product portfolio for the coming years in some of our Asian markets,” says Erik Severinson, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Volvo Cars. “Together with the new fully electric ES90, the new S90 ensures we have a complete and attractive offering for customers who value safety and want to drive a large, sleek Volvo sedan.”
Invoking the electric-only ES90 EV is a key point here – and Volvo is pushing its marketing heavily into the idea that the PHEV version(s) of the face-lifted luxo-cruiser is “really” an EV, with press copy that reads:
As a plug-in hybrid, the new S90 is an electric car with a back-up plan. It offers 80 kilometers of fully electric range on a single charge under the WLTP testing cycle, while also providing more power when needed. This means that many S90 drivers will be able to do their daily commute with zero tailpipe emissions. Volvo Cars’ data shows that nearly half of the distance covered by the latest plug-in hybrid Volvo cars is powered purely by electricity.
There’s plenty to unpack there – not the least of which is whether or not the cars’ owners will ever actually plug them in. My personal experience with friends and neighbors who own T8/PHEV Volvos now would tell me that they’re more likely than, say, Jeep Wrangler 4xe owners to plug-in … but it hardly matters at this point.
The new S90 will be available to order for customers in China this summer, with selected other markets following later.
Check out some of the official press photos, below, then let us know whether or not you’ll miss seeing new S90s on English-speaking roads in the comments.
Volvo S90 photo gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Cars.
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On today’s fleet-focused episode of Quick Charge, we talk about a hot topic in today’s trucking industry called, “the messy middle,” explore some of the ways legacy truck brands are working to reduce fuel consumption and increase freight efficiency. PLUS: we’ve got ReVolt Motors’ CEO and founder Gus Gardner on-hand to tell us why he thinks his solution is better.
You know, for some people.
We’ve also got a look at the Kenworth Supertruck 2 concept truck, revisit the Revoy hybrid tandem trailer, and even plug a great article by CCJ’s Jeff Seger, who is asking some great questions over there. All this and more – enjoy!
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If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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Thanks to Trump’s repeated executive order attacks on US clean energy policy, nearly $8 billion in investments and 16 new large-scale factories and other projects were cancelled, closed, or downsized in Q1 2025.
The $7.9 billion in investments withdrawn since January are more than three times the total investments cancelled over the previous 30 months, according to nonpartisan policy group E2’s latest Clean Economy Works monthly update.
However, companies continue to invest in the US renewable sector. Businesses in March announced 10 projects worth more than $1.6 billion for new solar, EV, and grid and transmission equipment factories across six states. That includes Tesla’s plan to invest $200 million in a battery factory near Houston that’s expected to create at least 1,500 new jobs. Combined, the projects are expected to create at least 5,000 new permanent jobs if completed.
Michael Timberlake of E2 said, “Clean energy companies still want to invest in America, but uncertainty over Trump administration policies and the future of critical clean energy tax credits are taking a clear toll. If this self-inflicted and unnecessary market uncertainty continues, we’ll almost certainly see more projects paused, more construction halted, and more job opportunities disappear.”
March’s 10 new projects bring the overall number of major clean energy projects tracked by E2 to 390 across 42 states and Puerto Rico. Companies have said they plan to invest more than $133 billion in these projects and hire 122,000 permanent workers.
Since Congress passed federal clean energy tax credits in August 2022, 34 clean energy projects have been cancelled, downsized, or shut down altogether, wiping out more than 15,000 jobs and scrapping $10 billion in planned investment, according to E2 and Atlas Public Policy.
However, in just the first three months of 2025, after Trump started rolling back clean energy policies, 13 projects were scrapped or scaled back, totaling more than $5 billion. That includes Bosch pulling the plug on its $200 million hydrogen fuel cell plant in South Carolina and Freyr Battery canceling its $2.5 billion battery factory in Georgia.
Republican-led districts have reaped the biggest rewards from Biden’s clean energy tax credits, but they’re also taking the biggest hits under Trump. So far, more than $6 billion in projects and over 10,000 jobs have been wiped out in GOP districts alone.
And the stakes are high. Through March, Republican districts have claimed 62% of all clean energy project announcements, 71% of the jobs, and a staggering 83% of the total investment.
A full map and list of announcements can be seen on E2’s website here. E2 says it will incorporate cancellation data in the coming weeks.
Read more: FREYR kills plans to build a $2.6 billion battery factory in Georgia
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