General Motors currently operates a number of pilot car-sharing and peer-to-peer vehicles services in the U.S. and Germany. Today, the company announced it would roll all of those program into one, Maven.
The so-called personal mobility brand, Maven, is intended to give customers access to personalized, on-demand services, GM said in an announcement on the service.
Through the service GM will combine and expand its existing ride-share, peer-to-peer, and car-share programs, including Let’s Drive NYC, CarUnity in Germany, and various GM campus programs.
The service will first kick off in Ann Arbor, MI, with a focus solely on the University of Michigan’s employees and students. GM vehicles will be available initially at 21 parking spots across the city.
So far, Maven has a team of more than 40 employees from the connected car technology industry, as well as ride and car-sharing professionals from Google, Zipcar, and Sidecar.
“GM is at the forefront of redefining the future of personal mobility,” GM President Dan Ammann, said in a statement. “With the launch of our car-sharing service through Maven, the strategic alliance with ride-sharing company Lyft, and building on our decades of leadership in vehicle connectivity through OnStar, we are uniquely positioned to provide the high level of personalized mobility services our customers expect today and in the future.”
Under the Maven service, customers will use their app to search for and reserve a vehicle by location or car type and unlock the vehicle with their smartphone.
GM says pricing for the service is simple, and includes insurance and fuel costs. However, specifics of the costs were not revealed.
The announcement of Maven comes on the heels of GM’s investment of $500 million in ride-hailing company Lyft and its purchase of largely defunct ride-sharing service Sidecar.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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