GM Begins Rollout of Its Car-Sharing Brand

Building on its recent acquisition of Lyft, GM is consolidating its peer-to-peer efforts into a single brand, Maven, and is also teaming with a developer for car-sharing in Chicago.

Laura Putre

Jan 21, 2016

It’s been a big couple of weeks for GM’s efforts in the urban mobility space. After buying a $500 million stake in ride-sharing service Lyft and purchasing the assets of faltered car-sharing pioneer Sidecar for a relative song compared to that, the company announced today it is consolidating its car-sharing efforts under a new brand called Maven that it will roll out first at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The Maven team will include “40 dedicated employees from the connected car technology industry as well as ride- and car-sharing professionals from Google, Zipcar and Sidecar,” GM said in a statement today.

The services will be tailored to particular regions, and “include city, residential, peer-to-peer and campus programs.”

The initial rollout of the Ann Arbor service will include car-sharing for faculty and students at 21 parking spots across the city. A car-sharing service for Chicago residents will debut later in the first quarter of 2016, GM said, part of a partnership with developer Magellan group, builder of luxury condominium high-rises with projects currently in Chicago and Minneapolis.

Ian Beavis, chief strategy officer at automotive consulting agency AMCI, said that Maven “is basically General Motors' version of [car sharing service] ZipCar. “Maven is a way to unify several things they’re doing,” he said. “It’s an exercise. They’ve got a car sharing arrangement in Germany and one in New York. Coming up with a brand name for a car sharing service makes sense—putting it under an umbrella, giving it a focus, is a good idea.”

GM’s partnership with Magellan, he added, is “not exactly clear,” but “what I like about this is that it’s great experimentation, it’s helpful and valuable and it’s what car companies need to be doing. There’s no substitute for going out there and doing it, rather than just thinking about it.

“This peer-to-peer stuff, it’s going to be years before this shakes out. There won’t be one solution—there’s going to be multiple solutions.”

The Maven service will include an app to search for and reserve a vehicle and unlock the vehicle with a smartphone, as well as enable remote functions. Connected infotainment and safety services will be part of the package, providing, GM says, “an ownership-like experience” from a shared vehicle.

“With more than 25 million customers around the world projected to use some form of shared mobility by 2020, Maven is a key element of our strategy to changing ownership models in the automotive industry,” Julia Steyn, GM vice president of urban mobility programs, said in a statement.

NASA

NASA Selects Blue Origin National Team to Return Humans to the Moon

IW Staff

Apr 30, 2020

Today the Blue Origin National Team, which includes Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper, was selected by NASA to begin to develop the Artemis Human Landing System. “NASA’s Artemis program will be the next major milestone in the history of human space flight, and we’re honored to be a part of it,” said Bob Smith, CEO, Blue Origin. “Our National Team brings unparalleled heritage, passion and innovation that will enable Americans to return to the lunar surface and inspire another generation. It’s time to go back to the Moon, this time to stay.”

Using existing and in development technologies provides the head start needed to meet NASA’s goal of landing at the South Pole of the Moon. Lockheed Martin’s Ascent Element is based on Orion; Northrop Grumman’s Transfer Element is based on Cygnus; and Blue Origin’s Descent Element is based on the Blue Moon lander and BE-7 engine, which has been in development for several years.“Lockheed Martin is honored to be partnered with Blue Origin and this National Team as we begin a moment in history that the world will point to for generations,” said Rick Ambrose, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin Space. “The Artemis astronauts will descend to the surface and ascend off the surface inside an advanced crewed ascent element. The best way to accomplish this safely and quickly is to leverage NASA’s investment in Orion, an existing human-rated deep space spaceship, which maximizes common training and operations.”

Blue Origin/NASA
“Putting humans back on the lunar surface is an inspiring goal for our nation,” said Blake Larson, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Space Systems. “We are proud to support this team and NASA with our decades of experience, comprehensive capabilities, and our proven space systems, as we return to the Moon.”“Draper’s extensive portfolio and heritage in human exploration avionics is reinforced by current work on Lockheed Martin’s Orion, NASA’s SLS, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus and Blue Origin’s engine, New Glenn and Blue Moon programs,” said Seamus Tuohy, Principal Director of Space Systems, Draper. “We are prepared for this united team to return humans to the Moon, just as Draper did with Apollo.”Each National Team partner brings industry-leading solutions:

Blue Origin, as prime contractor, leads program management, systems engineering, safety and mission assurance, and mission engineering and operations; and develops the Descent Element.
Lockheed Martin develops the reusable Ascent Element vehicle and leads crewed flight operations and training.
Northrop Grumman develops the Transfer Element vehicle that delivers the landing system into low lunar orbit for final descent.
Draper leads descent guidance and provides flight avionics.

The National Team looks forward to embarking on the next steps with NASA and continuing progress to return to the Moon – this time to stay.