Cruise aiming for fully renewable energy as fuel for its cars

So far, the self-driving branch of General Motors called Cruise has made a point of being one of the few AV companies that rely solely on electric vehicles in their lineup, as opposed to competitors which use a mixture of EVs and standard cars. Now, the company has made an additional commitment to the San Francisco way by announcing that it plans to use renewable energy as the sole fuel for its EVs.

Cruise is sticking to its policy despite the absence of profits or even a clear plan

The company said that 65% of electric energy in the U.S. is being powered by sources like fossil fuels and petroleum, and that Cruise is looking to make a step in a different direction through the use of solar panels. Despite the bold announcement, Cruise has remained conspicuously vague when it comes to the actual sources of their renewable energy. Although the project will likely rely heavily on solar panels, the only details that the company has shared so far is that their plans for renewable energy AVs are being powered by 12 solar projects on school sites in Southern California.

While the exclusive commitment to electrical energy for its line of self-driving cars is a novelty, it is also a costly one. Bryan Salesky, CEO of the Argo AI self-driving vehicle company, explained that relying only on electrical energy as fuel for AVs is not plausible for several reasons, one of which is the cost of the technology involved in making self-driving cars. Given that solar-powered technology is still in its early stages, Cruise’s latest effort will presumably shrink the company’s profit margin even further.