Maven-fest destiny: GM's car-sharing program hits 1 million miles driven, expands to new cities
Not too shabby for a program that didn't exist four months ago.
When it was announced around the New Year, GM's Maven car-sharing program promised to put new GM vehicles into the public's hands for affordable prices that included both fuel and insurance. Now, about four months into the project, it's clearly successful, logging many thousands of miles and expanding once again to new cities.
As of later this year, Maven will operate in five cities: Ann Arbor, Michigan; New York; Chicago; Boston; and Washington D.C. Drivers in the program have already logged about 1 million miles, which is enough to drive a single car around the equator 40 times.
Chicago offers two different Maven programs. Maven City is geared towards the "I need a car for an Ikea trip" set, with hourly pricing and the option to have a vehicle delivered instead of picked up. Express Drive is a short-term rental program, offering weekly rates on Chevrolet Equinox crossovers.
Washington will see Maven City arriving in June. Also arriving around then is Maven+. Maven+ is available for specific residential communities (in D.C.'s case, The Hepburn), offering round-the-clock access to a car-sharing fleet parked within that community. Boston will see both Maven City and Maven+ later this summer.
Express Drive will be rolled out to those same markets, as well as Baltimore, by the end of the year.