A General Motors executive just confirmed that the automaker is working on an autonomous version of the upcoming Chevy Bolt EV. The self-driving Bolt will be the automaker’s first fully autonomous vehicle, and it will be available to Lyft drivers as part of the automaker’s $500 billion investment in the ride-sharing company.
Pam Fletcher, executive chief engineer of autonomous tech at GM, recently revealed to Tech Insider that the autonomous Chevy Bolt will be here in the near future. “We have not made that announcement yet, but what I would say is this is all coming much faster than people anticipate, so I’ll say that much. We have been transparent about that,” Fletcher stated.
Related: Chevy unveils first pre-production Bolt EV ahead of Tesla’s Model 3 debut
While GM has yet to reveal an expected arrival date of the autonomous Chevy Bolt EV, prototypes of the self-driving Bolt are currently being driven around San Francisco by Cruise Automation – the self-driving car startup that GM bought earlier this year. It’s being reported that GM and Lyft could start testing autonomous vehicles on public roads by the end of the year.
The 2017 Chevy Bolt with its 200-mile driving range is expected to enter production by the end of the year. “What I would say is this car is a big part of a transformation of transportation and mobility,” GM’s Pam Fletcher concluded about the future of the Chevy Bolt.
+ General Motors
Via Tech Insider
All images @ Cruise Automation and General Motors
