General Motors chairperson and CEO, Mary Barra, will take to the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today to debut the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The vehicle will mark Chevrolet’s first purely electric vehicle with an estimated range of over 200 miles on one single charge.
The Detroit Free Press reported the design of the 2017 Bolt EV was looked at in a slightly different way, however, and that’s echoed in what Pamela Fletcher, GM’s chief engineer for electric vehicles, stated about the 2017 Bolt EV.
“This really is the first car purposely built for ride sharing,” said Fletcher. She goes on to describe an exterior “that seems shrink-wrapped around the interior” to provide rear-seat passengers plenty of room and seating for three. Large door openings and flat floors make the 2017 Bolt EV easy to enter and exit. Finally, for safety, she highlights an onboard camera which, when commanded, displays a wide-field image of behind the car onto the rearview mirror.
Furthermore, she highlights unique self-sealing tires made by Michelin, and the armrest in the backseat features two USB ports for smartphone charging.
All of this information makes it clear GM had been mulling the Lyft tie-up for some time, seeing how the ride-sharing service shaped the interior and exterior looks of the vehicle.
Earlier this week, GM announced a $500 million investment into Lyft to build fleets of autonomous driving vehicles for ride-sharing purposes. And it looks like the Bolt EV may be just the vehicle for the task.
Comments
This is what the ordinary people have been waiting for. Great job GM!!
I find it unlikely that the rear camera mirror, which was debuted by Cadillac nearly a year ago, was developed in conjunction with Lyft. More likely someone said, “Hey can we have that cool camera mirror from the CT6?” and Chevrolet said, “Yeah. Why not.”