General Motors will begin testing autonomous vehicles on public roads in Michigan, GM CEO and Chairman Mary Barra announced on Thursday afternoon.
During the announcement, Barra also said they will begin producing the next generation of its autonomous vehicles at the Orion Township Assembly Plant in early 2017.
Testing on autonomous vehicles is already under at the company's tech center in Warren and with the passage of the SAVE Act legislation, the company will immediately begin testing them on public roads.
“Revolutionizing transportation for our customers while improving safety on roads is the goal of our autonomous vehicle technology, and today’s announcement gets us one step closer to making this vision a reality,” Barra said in a release. “Our autonomous technology will be reliable and safe, as customers have come to expect from any of our vehicles.”
The plant will produce Chevrolet Bolt EV equipped with fully autonomous technology. It already produces the Bolt EV and the Chevrolet Sonic.
Earlier this year, GM began testing autonomous Bolt EVs on the public roads in San Francisco, Calif. and Scottsdale, Ariz.
