Magna to retrofit and scale up May Mobility’s self driving shuttles in the US

May Mobility, a Michigan-based startup that specialises in self-driving shuttles, has partnered with Canada-based Magna, a mobility technology company and one of the world's largest automotive suppliers, to retrofit and scale up May Mobility's fleet of self-driving shuttles set to enter the US market.

Under this collaboration, Magna is retrofitting low-speed self-driving micro transit electric vehicles from the chassis up. The initial fleet of vehicles will debut on June 26, 2018 with May Mobility's first commercial deployment taking place in Detroit, Michigan.

Swamy Kotagiri, Magna Chief Technology Officer said, "This project demonstrates our complete vehicle and technical expertise which supports both existing automakers and new companies entering the automotive space."

Magna will work on the vehicles in its Troy, Michigan-based custom build centre, with May Mobility engineers collaborating on the development from its Ann Arbor headquarters in Michigan. Starting with existing stock vehicles, the new partnership will create a number of street-ready self-driving electric shuttles that will be designed by May Mobility and assembled by Magna. Both the companies intend to scale in volume to hundreds, and eventually thousands of shuttles as market demands increase. May Mobility’s self-driving shuttle is being entirely rebuilt by the engineers at Magna. The customisations include custom doors and a panoramic moonroof, drive-by-wire fitting (for converting into an autonomous-ready state), and sensor integration (mounting, cabling and streamlined cowlings)

Steve Vozar, founder and CTO for May Mobility said, "This deal demonstrates our commitment to scale and accelerate operations with a partner who understands quality and reliability in the build process, and who can match the exacting process that makes us a trusted community partner."