Photo courtesy of General Motors.

Photo courtesy of General Motors.

GM filed a safety petition with the U.S. government for the approval of an autonomous car that does not feature a steering wheel, pedals or other manual controls.

The Cruise AV, which is a rebranded version of GM’s Chevrolet Bolt EV, was designed to operate on its own, without a driver, the automaker announced. It will have a 360 degree view of its environment, and will be able to identify pedestrians or oncoming objects and respond accordingly.

To perform its perception functions, the vehicle has five LiDARs, 16 cameras and 21 radars, according to automaker. Customers of the vehicle will use a mobile app to request a ride, similar to other ride-sharing apps. Inside the vehicle, tablets will be available for passengers to access information about the ride.

General Motors is looking to have the Cruise AV enter the automaker’s first commercial ride-sharing fleet in 2019, according to Reuters.

The Cruise AV is the fourth generation of its self-driving vehicle, and is designed to drive only in known geo-fenced boundaries, and roads that the automaker has developed high-definition map data, according to the automaker. The Cruise AV will also be able to open its doors for passengers who are unable to do so.

The Cruise AV will feature an interior similar to the Bolt EV, but lacking the aforementioned appropriate components for manual navigation.

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