WASHINGTON — Ford Motor Co. has withdrawn its petition to deploy a restricted variety of self-driving automobiles with out conventional driving controls or options on U.S. roads, an unpublished federal doc exhibits.
Within the discover, which is scheduled to be printed Friday, NHTSA stated Ford has withdrawn its July 2021 request for a brief exemption from sure federal security requirements for a car outfitted with an automatic driving system.
Ford sought an exemption from seven security requirements to deploy automobiles that will be used to assist mobility companies corresponding to ride-sharing and bundle supply, in line with the petition.
Ford notified NHTSA in February of its determination to withdraw the petition.
If it had been authorized, it will have allowed Ford to deploy as much as 2,500 self-driving automobiles yearly.
In a press release to Automotive Information, Ford spokesman Alan Corridor stated it withdrew the petition as a part of a strategic determination introduced in late 2022 to focus extra on its superior driver-assist system improvement for personally owned automobiles, “shifting away from creating Degree 4 autonomous automobiles for industrial fleets.”
“Because of this determination, we now not want NHTSA to increase the exemption petition to assist Degree 4-related testing for Ford right now,” Corridor stated.
Common Motors‘ self-driving unit, Cruise, is searching for an exemption from six security requirements to deploy its Origin car, which is constructed for fleet-controlled ride-share and supply companies. The Origin is just not outfitted with handbook controls or options corresponding to a steering wheel, pedals, handbook flip indicators and mirrors, in line with the petition. That request continues to be awaiting approval by NHTSA.
In August, NHTSA prolonged a deadline for public touch upon each automakers’ petitions.
NHTSA granted its first-ever exemption petition permitting restricted deployment of automated driving methods to Nuro Inc. in 2020.