Tech Trend 247

Self-driving Lyft cars might be hitting the streets sooner than anyone anticipated.

General Motors and Lyft are preparing to roll out a test fleet of autonomous long-range Bolt EV in a yet-to-be-determined city with in the next year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Citing an unnamed Lyft executive, WSJ reports the exact plans are still being worked out.

When reached for comment, a GM representative told Mashable, "We have nothing specific to announce in relation to potential rollout of vehicles and technologies at this time.”

Adding, "GM continues to make progress on our previously announced plans related to an integrated on-demand autonomous network with Lyft. Similarly, we have said the Chevrolet Bolt EV is the ideal platform for ride sharing solutions. We believe electrification blends perfectly with autonomy when it comes to technology integration."

Intriguingly, this report sound awfully similar to a report we made earlier this year, in which GM President Dan Ammann spoke hypothetically about deploying self-driving cars with Lyft.

"We're going to have a car that operates only in downtown Austin that has a maximum speed of 30 mph and operates in controlled conditions," Ammann said.

Again, while he later clarified that was not a specific plan but rather an example of a potential roll out, it sounds like it might have actually been right on the money.

Regardless of when or how, it's been well known since GM invested $500 million into the ride-share company that the two aim to bring self-driving cars to the roads. I think no one expected it to happen quite this quickly, though.

Mashable reached out to Lyft for comment but has not received a response.

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