Autonomous vehicles are becoming more of a reality, and are getting closer to ending up in showrooms. GM Canada has inched closer to that reality.
In a recent speech at the Economic Club in Ottawa, Steve Carlisle, GM Canada president and managing director, confirmed its Canadian Engineering Centre in Oshawa has been given the green light to build a fleet of self-driving 2017 Chevrolet Volts.
“The Province of Ontario’s leadership in allowing autonomous vehicle testing was a helpful support in securing this advanced technology work for our Canadian facility,” said Carlisle.
The Chevrolet Volt electric vehicles are part of a broader test program at GM’s Technical Centre in Warren, Mich, said the company.
As part of the test program, GM staff will reserve a Volt using a car-sharing app and select a destination. The autonomous vehicle technology would then bring the vehicle to its destination and park it, said GM.
The company has also said it’s hiring 100 new software engineers and engaging with a number of select Canadian universities, accelerators and suppliers to help fulfill its mandate to build autonomous vehicles.
