GM And Lyft To Start World’s Largest Autonomous Vehicle Trial In 2018

General Motors, in conjunction with ride-sharing affiliate Lyft Inc, will begin testing thousands of autonomous vehicles in the largest program of its type starting in 2018 according to Reuters, based on reports out of the US.

Most of the vehicles will be autonomous versions of the Chevrolet Bolt electric car and the San Francisco, California based Lyft will include them in its ride sharing fleet in numerous states. The Bolt AV (autonomous vehicle) is not at this stage listed for sale to private buyers.

GM executives have previously told North American media that the company was developing plans to mass produce autonomous vehicles for use in ride sharing fleets but no details have been announced.

Speculation points to GM’s ride-sharing subsidiary Maven partnering with Lyft in a future AV-based ride-sharing business.

“If you assume the cost of these autonomous vehicles, the very early ones, will be six figures there aren’t very many retail customers that are willing to go out and spend that kind of money,” GM’s Mike Ableson revealed. “But even at that sort of cost, with a ride sharing platform, you can build a business.

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