Skip to main content

Nuro granted first federal safety exemption for a driverless car

Nuro R2 autonomous car
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nuro — a startup that uses small autonomous vehicles to deliver groceries — has achieved an important milestone in the development of self-driving cars. The startup’s latest vehicle — the R2 — has been granted an exemption from federal safety regulations designed with human-driven vehicles in mind. In a blog post, Nuro said it was the first company to be granted such an exemption.

The exemption means Nuro is now able to produce and operate vehicles not intended for human drivers. Any company producing a vehicle for use on public roads needs to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). But these rules were written for cars driven by humans, so they require, among other things, that cars have steering wheels and pedals. That presents a major roadblock (no pun intended) to any company developing autonomous cars.

Companies whose vehicles don’t comply with FMVSS can apply for an exemption, and the federal government is allowed to grant up to 2,500 exemptions per company per year. To qualify for an exemption, regulators must determine that a vehicle is as safe as one that complies with the letter of the law, David Estrada, Nuro’s chief legal officer, said in an interview with The Verge. The exemption also came with some caveats.

The Nuro R2 will only operate at speeds up to 25 mph, putting it in a category of low-speed vehicles that are generally subject to fewer regulations than traditional cars. The U.S. Department of Transportation will also require Nuro to regularly report information about R2 operations, and reach out to communities where it plans to operate the vehicles, according to The Verge.

Nuro isn’t the only company seeking to operate autonomous vehicles without manual controls. General Motors has submitted a petition for its own exemption. Unlike Nuro, GM wants to operate cars at speeds over 25 mph, which may complicate the approval process. GM is banking on approval, however. The company’s Cruise division recently unveiled the Origin, a self-driving car with no manual controls, and GM has already set aside capacity at a Michigan factory to build it.

Waymo has made some noise in the past about deploying self-driving cars without manual controls, and even operates some cars without human drivers behind the wheel, but has not applied for an FMVSS exemption. Scania and Einride have both demonstrated large commercial trucks without operator cabs, but these vehicles will likely operate at enclosed terminals or construction sites for the time being.

The FMVSS exemption allows more freedom to optimize the design of the R2 for urban grocery deliveries, according to Nuro. Instead of a windshield, the vehicle has a special energy-absorbing panel designed to protect pedestrians. Similar to the previous R1 (which will be retired), the R2 has a smaller footprint than a normal car, but the lack of a driver’s seat leave plenty of room for cargo. Nuro started delivering groceries in Scottsdale, Arizona, in December 2018, before shifting to Houston. The company also uses modified Toyota Priuses for deliveries.

Stephen Edelstein
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
Cruise autonomous vehicle drives over woman just after she was hit by another car
A Cruise autonomous car.

An autonomous vehicle (AV) operated by Cruise ran over a pedestrian in San Francisco on Monday night just after she’d been hit by another car, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

According to witnesses, the force of the initial impact knocked the woman into the path of the Cruise robotaxi, leaving her pinned under one of its wheels. The driver in the other car reportedly fled the scene.

Read more
Cruise says it’s nearing approval for mass production of futuristic robotaxi
Interior of Cruise's Origin vehicle.

Robotaxi company Cruise is “just days away” from getting regulatory approval that would pave the way for mass production of its purpose-built driverless vehicle, CEO Kyle Vogt said on Thursday in comments reported by the Detroit Free Press.

General Motors-backed Cruise unveiled the vehicle -- called Origin -- in early 2020, presenting the kind of driverless car that we all dreamed of when R&D in the sector kicked off years ago; a vehicle without a steering wheel and without pedals. A vehicle with passenger seats only.

Read more
Robotaxi firm Cruise ordered to halve fleet following incidents
A Cruise autonomous car.

Autonomous car company Cruise has been told by regulators to halve its robotaxi fleet in San Francisco following a crash with a fire truck on Thursday in which the driverless car's passenger suffered minor injuries.

The regulator -- the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) -- said that it’s looking into “recent concerning incidents” involving self-driving Cruise cars operating on the city’s public roads.

Read more