Ford has announced that it is withdrawing its request for administrative approval from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to launch up to 2,500 self-driving vehicles without obligatory human controls such as steering wheels. Ford cited its intention to close its self-driving venture, Argo AI, in 2022 as the reason for the withdrawal.<\/p>\n
Ford said, “As evidenced by the planned shutdown of our ADS partner Argo AI, we believe the road to fully autonomous vehicles, at scale, with a profitable business model, will be a long one,” in the letter dated February 13. Ford added that it is “more prudent” to focus on developing other technologies that do not require an exemption.<\/p>\n
According to Ford, their strategic change toward largely autonomous vehicles means that petition clearance is no longer required. Argo AI, a joint venture between the firm and Volkswagen AG, sustained a non-cash pre-tax impairment of $2.7 billion on its investment in the unit, resulting in the layoff of certain personnel.<\/p>\n
Ford had submitted the petition in July 2021, seeking permission not to include human controls “such as a steering wheel, brake pedal (and) gear state controls,” arguing that self-driving vehicles “having active driving controls and communications would introduce an unacceptable risk to safety.” The NHTSA has the authority to grant petitions to allow a limited number of vehicles to operate on U.S. roads without required human controls.<\/p>\n
However, the NHTSA has now made a decision to take no further action on Ford’s petition following the announcement of its withdrawal. General Motors’ similar petition is still pending.<\/p>\n