Peter Palmer: Lyft & GM Express Drive Spans Colorado, California

Originally appeared on Automoblog.net

Lyft and General Motors recently announced the expansion of the Express Drive short-term vehicle access program. The program launches in San Francisco this summer and Los Angeles and Denver this fall. Express Drive’s California members will have access to the largest electric vehicle fleet in ridesharing today, including the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV and the extended-range 2016 Volt.

Over 130,000 people between the three cities who applied to become Lyft drivers, but didn’t have qualifying cars, will now have an opportunity on the new platform.

“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 President and Co-Founder.

The ridesharing service is already successful in Baltimore, Boston, Washington D.C., and Chicago. 30 percent of new applicants in the Windy City have requested an Express Drive vehicle.

“We are also excited to be adding electric vehicles to Express Drive, which is an important milestone for Lyft and the industry,” Zimmer said.

The company continues on the strong momentum of cities like Boston, which was fully subscribed in just under 4 days.

“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,” said GM President Dan Ammann. “The Chevrolet Bolt EV and Volt are a perfect fit for ride-sharing offering very low operating costs and a wide range of connectivity features for both drivers and passengers.”

Lyft, founded in June 2012, is the fastest growing ride-share service in the United States, available in more than 200 cities. In similar fashion, GM announced Maven earlier this year.

*Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and resides in Detroit, Michigan.

Photo & Source: Lyft & General Motors