There's a 21st century headline for ya. App-based; self-driving; electric.
From the Wall Street Journal:
General Motors Co. and Lyft Inc. will begin testing a fleet of self-driving Chevrolet Bolt electric taxis on public roads within a year, a move central to the companies’ joint efforts to challenge Silicon Valley giants in the battle to reshape the auto industry.
The plan is being hatched a few months after GM invested $500 million in Lyft, a ride-hailing company that rivals Uber Technologies Inc. The program will rely on technology the being acquired as part of GM’s separate $1 billion planned purchase of San Francisco-based Cruise Automation Inc., which has been working on self-driving technology for about two years.
Details of the autonomous-testing program are still being worked out, according to a Lyft executive, but it will include real customers and based in a yet-to-be disclosed city. Customers will have the opportunity to opt in or out of the pilot when hailing a Lyft car from the company’s mobile app.
In addition to driverless cars, the Detroit auto giant aims to use Lyft and its growing army of drivers as a primary customer for the Bolt,an electric car that launches later this year amid soft demand for electric vehicles. GM and Lyft currently rent out the Chevy Equinox to drivers needing vehicles in Chicago, but that program will expand to more cities and rely heavily on Bolts in the future instead of small sport-utility vehicles....MORE
