GM is entering the carsharing market in the US and will do so with the self-driving Chevrolet Bolt EV in 2018

Today, both self-driving vehicles and carsharing services are all the rage in the automotive industry. Most manufacturers are speeding up the development of this class of vehicle, and some even use shared-mobility platforms to deploy their autonomous technology.

The latest company to adopt this strategy has been General Motors. The American manufacturer is preparing to launch thousands of self-driving Chevrolet Bolt EVs in 2018; these units will be linked to the shared transport service Lyft and will form the largest fleet of self-driving vehicles created to date.

According to sources close to the automaker, most of these self-driving Chevrolet Bolt EVs will be used for the carsharing service (Lyft) that operates in several US states. For the time being, General Motors does not contemplate the possibility of selling these vehicles to private individuals.

The production plan for self-driving vehicles by the American automaker has not yet been officially confirmed. However, the company has stated in a press release that its intention is to develop its autonomous technology for shared-mobility fleets.

“We cannot provide specific details about potential future products or deployment plans for this technology. Our self-driving vehicle technology will appear in a shared-network application under an on-demand model. This service could be available sooner than people might think,” the company says.

At the end of last year, General Motors carried out tests with some forty Chevrolet Bolt EVs on the streets of San Francisco and Scottsdale (Arizona). Now, it appears the manufacturer is prepared to take a step further, and series production of its self-driving vehicles could begin as early as next year.