The California Department of Motor Vehicles said on Wednesday it revoked the registration of 16 Uber self-driving cars because they had not been properly permitted.
'Ride hailing is nothing more than manual autonomous driving,' Tony Douglas, Head of Strategy for BMW's mobility services said. 'Once you dispense with the driver you have a license to print money.'
A five-page letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is the company's most comprehensive statement yet about its ambitions in self-driving vehicle technology.
The early morning drive at an average speed of 55 mph marks what the company said was the first revenue generating load transported via autonomous truck.
No automaker, including Tesla, currently offers a fully self-driving car, although most major manufacturers and suppliers are working furiously on different technology suites to enable vehicles to drive themselves.
The company said that its Model S and Model X electric cars are already being produced with the new hardware, which includes eight cameras, 12 updated sensors and radar with faster processing.
The search giant has been a leader in testing autonomous vehicles on public roads, prompting traditional carmakers to step up their self-driving plans.