It has been a well-known GM’s Cruise Automation division has been hard at work on developing a fully-autonomous vehicle. Referred to within GM as Cruise AV, prototypes for the vehicle typically start life as a Chevy Bolt EV and are then upfitted with several fairly-noticeable LIDAR and camera systems on the roof, along with articulating RADARs on the mirrors. But the prototype we caught up to today doesn’t have any of these features, which has piqued our curiosity.

Notably, this prototype of the GM autonomous car is missing all of the roof-mounted LIDAR and camera hardware. Even so, the vehicle appears to be autonomous – as the photos clearly show the driver holding his phone with both hands while the vehicle is in motion, rather than the steering wheel.

More curiously yet is that this prototype of the GM autonomous car features the front clip from the Cruise AV mules. The unique front end houses nearly 20 RADAR sensors in addition to four roof-mounted fins that provide expanded vehicle-to-network communications.

GM has previously announced its intention of bringing a fully-automated vehicle to market in the near-term future, and it would seem that development is progressing, though we don’t quite know what to make of this particular GM autonomous prototype yet. Stay tuned as we snoop around for more info.