Express Drive was initially launched in Chicago back in March this year and it was later expanded to Boxton, Baltimore, and Washington, DC.
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The program will be launched in Denver by the fall of 2016, the companies said.
General Motors Co GM.N and ride-hailing company Lyft Inc said on Monday they would expand their short-term rental program to California and Colorado, building on an effort that GM President Dan Ammann said has “dramatically exceeded expectations”.
GM said the new 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, a pure electric vehicle it has said will have a range of more than 200 miles and is slated to go into production later this year, will be part of the program as well as the 2016 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. GM then acquired self-driving auto startup Cruise Automation, and the three began to work together.
Zimmer said autonomous driving technology is a key element in Lyft’s long-term vision of changing the model of auto ownership. Amman said the numbers were “meaningful and are going to be very meaningful”. They said they are “very happy” with the relationship, but declined to comment whether GM may invest more money into the company.
General Motors believes in autonomous vehicles as a safer mode of transport, and expects the technology to come more quickly than most people think, a top executive said Monday. “We are also excited to be adding electric vehicles to Express Drive, which is an important milestone for Lyft and the industry”.
Zimmer said there was no timeline on the rollout of autonomous or semi-autonomous Lyft vehicles, saying that “technically, things are happening faster than people realized”.
“The Chevrolet Bolt EV and Volt are a flawless fit for ride-sharing”, said GM President Dan Ammann in a statement.
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GM and Lyft are now expanding Express Drive to San Francisco where the program will go live later this summer, after that it will be expanded to Los Angeles and later Denver in the fall.
