[ref http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Bolt-EV-to-be-available-to-SF-amp-Denver-Lyft-drivers-later-2016-td4682927.html ]
http://electrek.co/2016/07/11/chevy-bolt-ev-lyft-drivers-california/ Chevy Bolt EV to be available to Lyft drivers in San Francisco later this year (Updated) 2016/07/11 Fred Lambert Update: a GM representative contacted to us to clarify that Lyft will actually get the vehicle later this year and not at the launch of the Express Drive program like the press release seen below led us to believe. GM has long stated that it plans to start deliveries of the Chevy Bolt EV by the end of 2016. It was since revealed in March that the all-electric vehicle entered pre-production on the Orion Assembly line. We later learned that GM is planning for the start of regular volume production of the 2017 Bolt in October 2016. Now it looks like the vehicle will be on the road sooner than anticipated and not necessarily in the hands of customers, but through GM’s partnership with Lyft, a popular ride-sharing company. GM announced today that it is expanding its Express Drive program to supply Lyft drivers with short-term vehicle access and it will include the Bolt EV in the list of vehicle available as soon as this summer. The company writes in a press release: “Launching in San Francisco in the summer of 2016 and in Los Angeles by the fall, Express Drive’s California members will have access to vehicles from the largest electric vehicle fleet in ridesharing, including the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV and the extended-range electric 2016 Chevrolet Volt. Express Drive will also launch operations in Denver by the fall of 2016. In San Francisco, Los Angeles and Denver combined, over 130,000 people who applied to become Lyft drivers but didn’t have qualifying cars will now have the opportunity to drive on the platform.” Earlier this year, GM invested $500 million in Lyft and the two companies have since been working together on several projects, including a pilot project for ride-sharing with self-driving cars powered by another recent GM investment, Cruise Automation, which has been testing its autonomous driving system on the Bolt EV. GM President Dan Ammann commented on bringing the Bolt to Lyft drivers: “We are very pleased with the success of Express Drive and how quickly the team implemented the program since our alliance was announced earlier this year. The Chevrolet Bolt EV and Volt are a perfect fit for ridesharing offering very low operating costs and a wide range of connectivity features for both drivers and passengers.” The Bolt EV will start at $37,500 before incentives and it will be able to achieve a range greater than 200 miles on a single charge with GM’s new LG Chem Bolt’s battery pack. It will have a capacity of 60 kWh with 288 lithium-ion cells in three groups of 96-cell and it weights a total of 960 lbs (435 kg). You can watch our test drive of the pre-production model here: Chevy Bolt test drive: Speedy, 200+ miles of range, and lots of goodies for $30,000 [© electrek.co] http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/boosters_bits/2016/07/lyft-offering-car-rentals-to-denver-ride-sharing.html Lyft offering car rentals to Denver ride-sharing drivers Jul 11, 2016 Greg Avery [image / Kathleen Lavine http://media.bizj.us/view/img/2021161/1abrittanylyftdriver6*750xx2997-1689-97-110.jpg Brittany Cameron, a driver for Lyft, gives a passenger a fist bump in this 2014 file photo ] Lyft will soon let would-be drivers in Denver rent GM vehicles to use picking up ride-sharing passengers for fares. The San Francisco-based company on Monday announced the expansion of its Express Drive program making short-term rentals available to drivers. The offer expands to San Francisco and Los Angeles as well. Lyft estimates 130,000 people in the three cities have applied to be drivers for the ride-sharing service but lacked qualifying vehicles. Express Drive is meant to provide affordable short-term rental cars for ride-sharing drivers, taking care of the vehicles' insurance and maintenance as well. “Expanding Express Drive provides opportunities to hundreds of thousands of new potential Lyft drivers and continues to make car ownership optional for both drivers and passengers” said John Zimmer, Lyft’s president and co-founder, in a written statement. The cost of renting varies depends on the model of the car and how many fare-paying rides are given each week, Lyft’s blog says. For all models, a driver doing more than 65 fares a week pays nothing for the rental car. For drivers picking up 40-64 rides a week, car rentals range between $82 and $99 per week. Less than 40 rides per week, the vehicle rental cost is between $82 and $99 weekly with a per-mile add-on charge of 17 cents or 20 cents, depending on the vehicle model. Express Drive will include 2016 Chevy Volt and 2017 Chevy Bolt EV extended-range electric vehicles in California, but not in Denver, the company said. The program is expanding after successful roll outs in Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C. and Baltimore, the company said In Chicago, Lyft said, 30 percent of new drivers applied to use Express Drive vehicles, and in Boston it took only four days for the available inventory of Express Drive vehicles there to be rented. Lyft’s larger competitor, San Francisco-based Uber, announced late last year that it’s using Denver as a test market for letting Uber drivers rent Enterprise rental cars for use as ride-sharing vehicle. [© 2016 American City Business Journals] http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-lyft-short-term-rental-20160711-snap-story.html Lyft and GM to rent electric vehicles to ride-hailing drivers 20160711 Tracey Lien [image http://www.trbimg.com/img-5783c293/turbine/la-1468253054-snap-photo/700/700x394 Lyft CEO Logan Green, left, GM President Dan Ammann and Lyft President John Zimmer this year when the two companies announced their partnership. (Lyft) ] Lyft’s partnership with General Motors is starting to bear fruit, with the ride-hailing company announcing Monday that drivers will soon be able to rent electric vehicles from GM to drive for hire. The program, named Express Drive, is intended to give drivers flexibility, according to Lyft’s director of operations and strategy, David Rust, who said drivers can rent the vehicles for as little as a day at a time. The program is similar to Lyft’s partnership with Hertz, in which drivers in San Francisco, Denver and Las Vegas can rent a vehicle from Hertz on a weekly basis to drive for the ride-hailing company. A key difference between the programs, Rust said, was the vehicles to which drivers will have access: the GM fleet consists of the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV and the 2016 Chevrolet Volt [pih]. Rental costs will differ depending on how much a person drives, Rust said. Lyft will cover the cost of rental for drivers who drive for more than 30 hours a week, essentially making the vehicle free. The rental rate for those who drive fewer than 30 hours a week will be announced closer to the program’s Los Angeles roll-out this fall. The rental program comes as ride-hailing companies race to recruit as many drivers as possible in a bid for market dominance. In Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver alone, more than 130,000 people who expressed interest in driving for Lyft didn’t have a suitable car, Rust said, so programs such as Express Drive offer a new way for them to get behind the wheel. Lyft’s competitor Uber has a similar program with Hertz and Enterprise. Lyft’s program is available in Chicago, Boston, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and will launch in San Francisco this month, and in Los Angeles by fall. Lyft and GM formed a partnership this year when the auto manufacturer invested $500 million in the ride-hailing start-up. The two companies are working together on an autonomous vehicle fleet. [© latimes.com] ... https://consumerist.com/2016/07/11/gm-giving-lyft-drivers-early-access-to-new-electric-chevy-bolt/ GM Giving Lyft Drivers Early Access To New Electric Chevy Bolt July 11, 2016 Back in March, General Motors announced that a portion of its $500 million investment in ... expansion of its Express Drive short-term vehicle access program to California and Colorado, offering prospective drivers access to its new all-electric Bolt EV ... https://consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/cq5dam-web-1280-12801-e1468258325757.jpeg http://www.autoconnectedcar.com/2016/07/express-drive-gm-chevy-bolt-more-carplay-android-auto-free-for-ca-co-lyft-drivers-with-65/ Express Drive GM Chevy Bolt & More CarPlay / Android Auto free for CA & CO Lyft Drivers with 65+ July 11, 2016 The Chevrolet Bolt EV and Volt are a perfect fit for ridesharing offering very low operating costs and a wide range of connectivity features for both drivers and ... ... http://www.pymnts.com/news/mobile-commerce/2016/lyft-gm-california-colorado-car-sharing-express-drive-expansion/ Lyft And GM Expand Express Drive To California, Colorado July 12, 2016 “We are also excited to be adding electric vehicles to Express Drive ... Lyft drivers in San Francisco will be able to access the Express Drive fleet this summer. It will be available in Denver and Los Angeles by the fall ... ... http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=bolt+Lyft&sort=date More GM lyft EVLN news items For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Bolt-EV-to-be-available-to-SF-and-Denver-Lyft-drivers-later-2016-tp4682932.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
