GM, Lyft Test Self-Driving Bolts In San Francisco

With more and more car companies entering the race to perfect their own self-driving car, it appears to be a matter of "when," not "if" autonomous vehicles become an option on showroom floors. The automotive industry got another step closer to this stage a few weeks ago, when two Chevrolet Bolt EVs were spotted driving around San Francisco with all types of sensors and cameras strapped to their roofs -  a sure sign that the cars were attempting to navigate themselves around the "City by the Bay."

While many other manufacturers still have their autonomous offerings confined to a test track, GM has finally hit the streets with theirs. The all-electric Bolt can go up to 200 miles on a single charge and, based on the competition, has a fairly affordable price point. It's also fitting that GM is testing the car in San Francisco, as they recently purchased Cruise Automation for $1 billion, Cruise being a San Francisco-based startup company that has been developing autonomous vehicle technology for a few years.

GM also made headlines when it invested $500 million in the ride-sharing service Lyft back in January. The Detroit-based automaker is expected to create a fleet of autonomous Bolt EVs for use by the on-demand taxi service, which they hope to have on roads across the U.S. by the end of this year.

The General also hopes that this latest move will help them catch up to companies like Tesla and Google, with regard to how their EV and autonomous programs are viewed by the public.