GM Maven Launches Ridesharing Service For Gig Economy

Maven, GM’s dedicated mobility wing, has launched Maven Gig, which gives occasional gig economy workers access to ridesharing services, as well as enables them to obtain a vehicle for short job stints, such as delivering groceries and food on demand.

According to TechCrunch, for $229 per week, which includes insurance, unlimited miles, free charging and regular maintenance, Maven Gig initially provides access to Chevrolet Bolt EVs.

Gig is a new offering within Maven’s lineup, alongside Maven City and Maven’s Express Drive program for Lyft drivers, or its partnership with Uber, both of which will continue alongside Gig. But Gig is designed for freelancers who can use the service when they need or want to have a car, and easily return it when they don’t.

“I would call it complementary to — but also an evolution of — what we’ve already been doing with the gig economy,” explained Maven’s Director of Commercial Mobility Strategy Rachel Bhattacharya in an interview. “One of the needs we kept hearing from our renters, and one of the things we’ve seen in data about how people participate as a 1099 driver, is multiple platforms. We know that our customers are really looking to earn on their own terms, drive for whoever they want. Everybody has slightly different ways of earning and maximizing how they benefit from the gig economy, and we wanted to open that up.”

Gig has already launched in San Diego and will be rolling out to San Francisco and Los Angeles later on. Bhattacharya explained that these cities made the most sense to launch the program because of driver earning potential, as well as the existing charging infrastructure present in those locations due to partner EVgo, which is providing the free charging locations for Maven Gig’s fleet of Bolts.

“We will be rolling out in other markets, and we’re coordinating closely with [EVgo],” Bhattacharya said. “What we do is give them known demand on a known cadence in specific markets. So as they’re looking to build and rolling out their infrastructure, they don’t have to just speculatively build and hope people show up. We can say ‘This month, this city, we’re gonna drop this many Bolts, and then a month later, we’ll add this many Bolts,’ and we can work closely with them.”