Skip to main content

GM’s fleet of autonomous Chevy Bolt test cars is growing fast

Late last year, General Motors said it would start building autonomous Chevrolet Bolt EVs for testing by its Cruise Automation subsidiary on the same Michigan assembly line that builds the regular Bolt EV. Over the past few months, GM has been doing just that.

The automaker claims to have built 130 autonomous Bolt EVs at its factory in Orion Township, Michigan, since January. They join 50 Bolt EVs already in Cruise Automation’s fleet. GM claims to be the first automaker to build self-driving cars using the same assembly-line methods as regular vehicles, although the Bolt EVs are prototypes built solely for testing.

Recommended Videos

The 130 cars built in Michigan are considered next-generation prototypes, with various improvements over the 50 cars already in use. Cruise Automation began testing cars on public roads in San Francisco and Scottsdale, Arizona, last year, and brought them to Warren, Michigan, home of the GM Tech Center, in January.

This production run gives GM one of the largest fleets of autonomous cars on the road. Ford, which plans to launch an autonomous production car by 2021, expects to have 90 test cars in service by the end of this year. Chrysler is in the process of delivering 100 Pacifica Hybrid minivans to Waymo to be outfitted with autonomous tech. The former Google self-driving car project recently order 500 more, as it looks to phase out its home-built prototypes.

The expansion of the Bolt EV fleet coincides with increased GM investment in Cruise Automation. In April, GM announced plans to invest $14 million in a new facility for the autonomous-car division in San Francisco, and the division will also benefit from an $8 million California government tax credit. GM also plans to add 1,100 news jobs at Cruise Automation over five years.

While GM hasn’t offered many details about its long-term plans for self-driving cars, they likely include ridesharing. GM invested $500 million in Lyft last year, and it has been among the most aggressive of the major automakers in launching mobility services. Its Maven mobility division currently offers car-sharing services in multiple U.S. cities, as well as low-cost car rentals to Lyft and Uber drivers.

Stephen Edelstein
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
Robotaxi firm Cruise ordered to halve fleet following incidents
A Cruise autonomous car.

Autonomous car company Cruise has been told by regulators to halve its robotaxi fleet in San Francisco following a crash with a fire truck on Thursday in which the driverless car's passenger suffered minor injuries.

The regulator -- the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) -- said that it’s looking into “recent concerning incidents” involving self-driving Cruise cars operating on the city’s public roads.

Read more
An autonomous car in San Francisco got stuck in wet concrete
A Cruise autonomous car.

A self-driving car operated by General Motors-backed Cruise got stuck on Tuesday when it drove into a patch of wet concrete.

The incident happened in San Francisco and occurred just days after California's Public Utilities Commission made a landmark decision when it voted to allow autonomous-car companies Cruise and Waymo to expand their paid ridesharing services in the city to all hours of the day instead of just quieter periods.

Read more
Affordable is not enough. Here’s what Chevy’s new Bolt needs to nail
2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car

Turns out that the Chevrolet Bolt isn't at its end. It makes sense. The Bolt certainly faced challenges, with various recalls and criticisms, but largely, it has proven itself as one of the best options for those who wanted a decent-range electric car at as low of a price as possible. That's why, despite the recalls, it was somewhat of a shock when General Motors announced that it was ending the Bolt.

That was just a fake-out, though. Between then and now, the company announced that, in fact, the Bolt will live on in a new second generation.

Read more