The American auto manufacturer has completed production of 130 Chevrolet Bolt EV test vehicles equipped with its next generation of self-driving technology at its Orion Assembly Plant located in Orion Township, Michigan. The vehicles will join the more than 50 current-generation self-driving Bolt EVs already deployed in testing fleets in San Francisco, Scottsdale, Arizona and Detroit. The self-driving EVs feature GM’s latest equipment including LIDAR, cameras, sensors and other hardware designed to accelerate development of a safe and reliable fully autonomous vehicle.
“This production milestone brings us one step closer to making our vision of personal mobility a reality,” said Mary Barra, GM Chairman and CEO. “Expansion of our real-world test fleet will help ensure that our self-driving vehicles meet the same strict standards for safety and quality that we build into all of our vehicles.”
“To achieve what we want from self-driving cars, we must deploy them at scale," said Kyle Vogt, Cruise Automation CEO. He added "By developing the next-generation self-driving platform in San Francisco and manufacturing these cars in Michigan, we are creating the safest and most consistent conditions to bring our cars to the most challenging urban roads that we can find.”
GM and Cruise Automation engineers have been testing Chevrolet Bolt EVs equipped with self-driving technology on public roads in San Francisco and Scottsdale, Arizona, since June 2016 and on public roads in Warren, Michigan, since January 2017.