General Motors and Lyft to Test Self-Driving Electric Taxis on Public Roads Within 1 Year

Jennifer van der Kleut

Just months after General Motors (GM) announced it was investing half a billion dollars in ride-hailing app Lyft, now the two partners say they will be conducting joint tests of driverless taxis on public roads-within a year.

The Wall Street Journal reports the tests will be of autonomous, electric Chevrolet Bolt taxis.

One other firm will have its hands in the mix as well. As GM recently purchased San Francisco-based tech firm Cruise Automation Inc., WSJ reports Cruise’s self-driving technology will power the cars.

WSJ says details are still being worked out, but that Lyft sources say the tests will involve average taxi customers in an undisclosed city (perhaps San Francisco?).

GM is hoping the popularity of its Chevy Bolt will soon take off, despite slow demand for electric vehicles due to most U.S. cities still lacking a sufficient supply of charging stations. GM is banking on the fact that more drivers will appreciate the larger storage space and passenger leg room of the Bolt, since the car’s electric battery is located under the floor instead of the front of the car.

This is just the latest in a long line of recent autonomous vehicle announcements by major automakers. Earlier this week, Google and Fiat-Chrysler announced a joint venture to manufacture self-driving Pacifica mini-va
ns. Elon Musk and the gang at Tesla Motors announced they are taking a short-term profit hit in order to speed up productio
n to meet the demand for its less expensive Model S, now promising to have 500,000 cars ready by 2018 rather than 2020. And Volvo announced it would be conducting “the largest and most ambitious autonomous car test yet” with its “Drive Me London” program, scheduled for next year.

With all of those announcements (and more), plus several U.S. states working on autonomous vehicle legislation, things are certainly heating up.