Maven now offers peer-to-peer car sharing for GM owners

General Motors' Maven mobility service is all about car sharing, but that sharing was limited to a fleet of GM-owned vehicles... until now.

Maven announced today that it has launched a pilot program that will allow GM owners to add their vehicles to Maven's fleet in exchange for cold, hard cash. Currently in beta, the peer-to-peer sharing system is limited to the Chicago, Detroit and Ann Arbor markets until it's ready to expand in the fall.

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All an owner needs to be eligible for sharing their car is a Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet or GMC vehicle that's from the 2015 model year or newer. Vehicles are covered through GM's million-dollar insurance policy, and Maven promises that its drivers are thoroughly vetted before taking your personal car for a spin.

So how much money can be made from this? A decent amount, actually -- provided your vehicle gets rented for set amounts of time, and provided you don't set your price too low. Using different vehicles as examples, Maven's site claims owners can make anywhere from a few hundred to more than $1,000 per month if the vehicle is rented out for a full week. Payouts take place every month and are transferred directly to a bank account.

Since the eligible vehicles all carry GM's OnStar telematics, owners won't need to give up physical keys -- Maven will install a device for keyless access. The company will also take high-quality photos of the vehicle. If the vehicle in question has the hardware for a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hotspot, it will also enable that hotspot so users can have some connectivity on the road, even if the vehicle's owner doesn't have an active subscription.

If you're looking for a bit of extra cash and you don't exactly need to live in your car, Maven's new peer-to-peer sharing service could help reduce the hurt of your monthly car payment. If you're not sure about renting someone's personal car, you can still pick from Maven's local fleets.