LA Ridesharing Startup Adds Chevy Bolts To Fleet

In an effort to reduce gas emissions, as well as create a healthier and sustainable environment for commuters, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has put together a City of Los Angeles Sustainable City pLAn. To help bring this to life, Garcetti brought a new partner on board — General Motors (GM).

GM is bringing its ridesharing startup, Maven, to town with a 100-car fleet of electric Chevy Bolts available for Los Angeles residents to use. Similar to Zipcar, these Bolts will be available at various locations to help encourage people to drive less and walk or bike more.

Since its launch in Feb. 2016, GM’s Maven is now in 14 U.S. cities with 24,000 members who’ve traveled 78 million miles. Since its launch in L.A. in October, Los Angeles has become the ridesharing startup’s largest customer. Anyone who takes part in Maven has access to free charging across California’s EVgo Freedom Station network.

In a statement to TechCrunch, GM Urban Mobility and Maven Vice President Julia Steyn, said: “Starting with Los Angeles, Maven will focus on collaborating with cities and municipalities to co-create smart transportation solutions that enhance mobility, create jobs and ease parking and congestion.”

Taking a step beyond just sharing electric vehicles with Los Angeles residents, Maven is also planning to partner with multiple departments on the city’s infrastructure, including the Department of Water and Power. Through these partnerships, GM hopes to build a truly robust EV charging network.

Bringing electric Chevy Bolts to the Los Angeles area is GM’s first step to help Maven become a partner with municipal governments to develop electrified autonomous vehicles. To further help accomplish this endeavor in California, the Detroit-based auto manufacturer also plans to bring the Bolt to the state’s next two largest cities, San Francisco and San Diego.