May Mobility Puts Autonomous Vehicles Into Service in Detroit

DETROIT – May Mobility, a Michigan-based startup collaborating with Magna on self-driving shuttles, today officially launches its passenger-transport service here, following several months of pilot operation and testing.

The May Mobility electric shuttles now in service at property-management company Bedrock will be used to carry employees between offices. parking sites, events and other destinations throughout the day, the Ann Arbor-based service says.

Magna is constructing the shuttles at its build center in Troy, MI, in collaboration with May Mobility engineers. Magna starts with the chassis of a stock Polaris GEM electric vehicle, modifies the body to include custom doors and a panoramic roof and integrates May Mobility’s autonomous-vehicle control stack, cabling, sensors and other critical components.

May Mobility, which designed the 6-seat vehicle and some of its autonomous technology, says output can be scaled up to the hundreds or even thousands of units annually to meet demand.

At launch May Mobility will have attendants in vehicles to help orient first-time riders and monitor vehicle performance. It plans to offer app-driven on-demand rides in 2019 and expand its suite of vehicles and services.

Both Toyota AI Ventures and BMW I Ventures, venture-capital arms of the two automakers, have invested in May Mobility.

@DavidZoia