DETROIT — General Motors Co. says it has built 130 self-driving Chevrolet Bolt electric cars at a factory in suburban Detroit, making it among the first automakers to mass produce self-driving vehicles.
The automaker has been building self-driving Bolts at its Orion Assembly Plant in Orion Township, Mich., since January. Unlike GM’s earlier self-driving test vehicles, the new cars were built on the same assembly line as regular Bolts that are being sold to customers. Once they rolled off the line, the self-driving Bolts went to another area of the plant to get their hardware installed.
The Bolt is a fully electric car that went on sale late last year. It can go 238 miles on a charge, and is ideal for use as an autonomous vehicle because its electric system can charge the computers needed for self-driving capability. GM has sold around 6,000 Bolts in the U.S. so far this year.
The new cars will join 50 self-driving Bolts with older technology that are already being tested in San Francisco; Scottsdale, Ariz.; and the Detroit area. GM CEO Mary Barra says the new vehicles will help GM accelerate its testing in urban environments, which are among the most challenging for autonomous cars to navigate.