GM's Maven drives interest in Chevy Bolt

DETROIT — General Motors' entry into mobility services is having an unexpected effect on its traditional business.

Maven, GM's car-sharing operation, has become an effective marketing tool for the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle.

Rachel Bhattacharya, director of commercial mobility products at Maven, said the Bolt has been one of the operation's most popular vehicles overall and is No. 1 among Maven's customers who drive for ride-hailing services.

Of the more than 125 million miles driven by Maven customers since the service launched in January 2016, more than 2 million were in the Bolt, which went on sale in December. Customers using Maven to drive for ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft have driven more than 60,000 passengers in Bolts, according to GM.

"We've gotten the Bolts taken at a higher rate than any of our other vehicles," Bhattacharya said last week at the Technology in Motion conference here. "It's been noticed by so many passengers that there's a potential sales channel there."

The Bolt hit dealerships in California and Oregon in December, and gradually expanded to about a dozen other states during the following months. Last week, GM said the Bolt was officially available across the U.S.

For the first eight months of 2017, Chevy sold 11,670 Bolts in the U.S., but dealerships have struggled with incentives on the vehicle — some have offered discounts worth several thousand dollars and others have marked up the sticker price in anticipation of early demand.

Starting at $37,495, including shipping and before a $7,500 federal tax credit, the Bolt boasts an EPA-rated 238-mile battery range on a full charge. Its primary competitor, the Tesla Model 3, which officially launched in July with 455,000 reservations, starts at $35,000 with a 220-mile range. The second-generation Nissan Leaf, which was introduced last week and targets more economically minded buyers, starts at $30,875, including shipping, and has a 150-mile range.

Despite EVs' increasing ranges and growing list of options, demand for the vehicles is unclear, according to analysts.

"With low gas prices and likely easing fuel economy regulations, the economics of pure EVs remains challenging," said Patrick Hummel, an analyst with UBS who published a report on the potential industry effects of the Bolt. "There also remain challenges around infrastructure and significant uncertainty around consumer behaviour."

Maven, now more than a year and a half old, operates in 19 markets, offering GM vehicles for three types of service:

1. City: Short-term rentals using a typical ​car-share model.

2. Home: Dedicated fleets for use in apartment complexes.

3. Gig: Weekly or monthly rentals for those who drive for ride-hailing services.

Maven offers free charging for Gig service customers, but she said other factors have contributed to the Bolt's popularity.

"What we didn't factor in is that the passengers would react in the way that they have reacted," Bhattacharya said. "The reason our drivers like it is that the passengers like it, and our drivers get better tips."

Citing driver reviews, she said the Bolt has been an icebreaker for ride-hailing drivers, with passengers asking about the car and commenting on its features.

Customers also have used the Bolt for longer road trips. Bhattacharya said Maven customers have driven the EV more than 100 miles a day, on average. Maven has been comparing routes of EVs with internal combustion engine offerings to find areas where charging stations may be needed, to allow for even more miles driven.

When Maven began offering Bolts, Bhattacharya said there were concerns customers wouldn't put enough miles on them for fear of driving out of the battery range.

"These are people who have never driven an EV before, by and large, and they just don't show this range anxiety," she said. "What we see in the data is that, they're in an EV, they have it for a couple of days, they get into their groove very quickly with charging, and they're off and running."