Want a car for an hour or two? Normally you’d turn to Zipcar, but now General Motors has announced an alternative car sharing scheme that it’s calling Maven.
The new initiative is launching in Ann Arbor, Michigan, though it’s set to expand to other cities in the next few months. The first scheme will see GM cars parked up in 21 spots around the city, and they’ll be rented out at $6 per hour, including insurance and fuel. Unlike Zipcar, though, there won’t be a membership fee, according to The Verge.
It will be a pretty slick experience, if GM’s press release is anything to go by. The Maven app will allow customers to search for and reserve a vehicle by location or car type, which is pretty standard. But you’ll also be able to unlock the car, start it, and turn on the heater or air conditioning before you step into it using the app, too. The vehicles will all feature Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
GM is clearly keen to embrace new ownership models and technologies for cars. It’s already experimented with car sharing with its Let’s Drive NYC program and is also developing a residential car-sharing service for Chicago, both of which will now fall under the Maven umbrella. And earlier this month, it was announced that it was investing a cool $500 million with Lyft to build a network of autonomous cars. Clearly, it’s taking the future of driving—and being driven—pretty seriously.
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