Autos

GM reveals new self-driving Cadillac concept car, plans to offer personal autonomous vehicles by mid-decade

Key Points
  • General Motors unveiled a new personal self-driving electric concept car from its luxury brand Cadillac during the CES technology show Wednesday.
  • The sleek two-passenger vehicle, called InnerSpace, is part of the brand's Halo Concept Portfolio, which debuted a year ago at CES with an urban air mobility vehicle and a shared autonomous shuttle.
  • GM CEO Mary Barra, during her keynote address, also revealed that the company and its subsidiary Cruise plan to offer a personal autonomous electric vehicle to consumers as soon as mid-decade.

In this article

Cadillac InnerSpace concept
GM

DETROIT — General Motors unveiled a new personal self-driving electric concept car from GM's luxury brand Cadillac on Wednesday during the CES technology show.

The sleek two-passenger car, called InnerSpace, is part of Cadillac's Halo Concept Portfolio, which debuted a year ago at CES with an urban air mobility vehicle and a shared autonomous shuttle.

GM CEO Mary Barra, during a keynote address, also revealed that GM and its majority-owned subsidiary Cruise plan to offer a personal autonomous electric vehicle to consumers as soon as mid-decade.

General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra is shown on screen via livestream as she introduces her digitally delivered keynote address at CES 2022 at The Venetian Las Vegas on January 5, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ethan Miller | Getty Images

That timeline is the most detailed since Barra last May said the company believes it could offer personal autonomous vehicles — marketed to individual consumers as opposed to fleet operators and ride-hailing services — "later in the decade."

"In pursuing multiple paths simultaneously, GM and Cruise are gaining significant technological expertise and experience, and we are working to be the fastest to market with a retail personal autonomous vehicle," Barra said Wednesday. "In fact, we aim to deliver our first personal autonomous vehicles as soon as the middle of this decade."

Renderings from GM of the "Cadillac halo portfolio" that includes concepts of an autonomous shuttle (right) and an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, also known as a flying vehicle.
Screenshot via GM

GM's time frame for personal autonomous vehicles may seem aggressive given setbacks in the development of self-driving vehicles in recent years. Cruise was initially supposed to commercialize an autonomous ride-hailing fleet in San Francisco in 2019 but indefinitely delayed those plans to conduct further testing and acquire needed permits.

Barra reconfirmed Wednesday that Cruise now expects those plans to be realized in the coming months. The company applied for the last permit needed to commercialize the operations in November.

We're going to be number one, mid-decade, in EVs in the U.S., says GM's CEO
VIDEO3:5903:59
We're going to be number one, mid-decade, in EVs in the U.S., says GM's CEO