Why GM is expanding Maven’s peer-to-peer car-sharing program

DETROIT – General Motors plans to extend its Maven peer-to-peer car share initiative to 10 cities by the end of the year.

The "Peer Cars" program allows owners and eligible tenants to rent their 2015 and newer Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac cars and trucks for cash to Maven users. A pilot started in July in Chicago, Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan – main hubs for Maven.

Expansion cities for the peer-to-peer program include Baltimore, Boston, Washington, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Jersey City, N.J.

A spokesperson for the Maven mobility brand refused to provide details on the number of registered persons or the peer-to-peer service, except that the number of vehicles on the Maven car sharing platform in the Detroit region doubled.

From early Tuesday afternoon, around 40 peer-to-peer vehicles were available via the Maven app in metro Detroit and a handful in the Ann Arbor area. However, people can activate the availability of their vehicles at any time.

Owners can set the price of their vehicle within a 20 percent range that is higher or lower than that of Maven for similar vehicles. The revenue sharing is 60 percent for vehicle owners and 40 percent for the company.

It is up to the owner to keep the vehicle clean and to fill it with fuel. However, users are expected to return the vehicle in the same condition as when they picked it up.

Maven's mobility brand has more than 190,000 members. The company refused to say how many routinely use the platform. Maven is active in 17 cities in the United States and Canada.

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