Cruise finishes initial testing of self-driving cars in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE — The company that tested self-driving cars in Charlotte earlier this month says it has now finished its preliminary testing.

Cruise told Channel 9′s Joe Bruno that there’s no timeline yet for when its cars will launch without drivers.

The company says the next step is to fine-tune the technology “to the unique driving conditions of the city” before starting driverless testing.

“Once we’re confident that our vehicles safely navigate anything ey encounter, we’ll begin driverless operations with no safety driver in the car, which is also when we will officially launch to the public,” said a spokesperson for Cruise.

Cruise’s vehicles have about 40 sensors that include cameras, lidar, and radar. The sensors send that data to the artificial intelligence that runs the cars, allowing it to make “real-time predictions on what’s happening, the behavior of nearby road users and pedestrians in order to determine the best and safest action to take.”

(WATCH: Rideshare company testing driverless cars in Charlotte cutting back service in California)