GM to Mass-Produce Autonomous Chevrolet Bolts
United
States: General
Motors announced to mass produce autonomous Chevrolet Bolts at Michigan plant by
January 2017. The CEO of General Motors. Mary Barra, in response to state
legislation enactment for wider use of autonomous vehicles, stated, that the
company would initiate testing of autonomous Chevrolet Bolts in suburban
Detroit, near the GM Technical Center.
Earlier, General Motors has
been testing its 40 autonomous Chevrolet Bolts in San Francisco and Scottsdale,
Arizona. However, as per Doug Parks, General Motors VP of Autonomous Technology
and Execution, the fleet applicable across Michigan region would be much larger
than fleet of Arizona.
The CEO of company added,
that the autonomous Chevrolet Bolts would be installed with cameras, sensors,
lidar and various other technologies for operation. Also, the General Motors
Michigan plant has been producing the regular electric Bolt, which can cover
approximately 238 miles on a full battery charge. Testing of autonomous Bolt by
the company has been limited within the 1 square mile campus of General Motors Technical
Center, which would further be expanded on the nearby roads and then in Detroit
region.
The company is still not
sure, to initiate distribution of autonomous vehicles for citizens. Moreover,
after investing a sum of USD500 million in “Lyft”, the company has plans to add
autonomous Chevrolet Bolts to the fleet of Lyft, in coming years.
As per TechSci Research, General
Motors, is among various other companies, to test autonomous vehicle technology
across the globe, to eradicate potential accidents and crashes caused by human
error. Besides that, the continuously expanding investment in the autonomous
car technology market by several companies, is expected to influence the
overall industry, over the coming period.
According to a recent report
published by TechSci Research, “Global
Autonomous Car Technology Market Forecast and
Opportunities, 2035 – ADAS, Semi-Autonomous, Fully-Autonomous”, globally, the automobile
sector has been constantly evolving in terms of engine performance and design.
Apart from these parameters, evolution of autonomous features in passenger cars
is garnering attention of consumers across the world. Global autonomous car
technology market is primarily divided into three segments - Advanced Driver
Assistance System (ADAS) car technologies, semi-autonomous car technology and
fully-autonomous car technology. ADAS technologies are currently moving at a
brisk pace on account of rising inclination towards greater automation.