Self-driving Chevy Bolts will hit Michigan streets soon

In light of the recent passage of the most lax autonomous car laws in the U.S., the streets of Michigan will likely soon be the among the most common places to test self-driving cars.

First up: GM, which announced that it will immediately begin testing its line of autonomous Chevy Bolt EVs on the state's public roads.

Testing on the private roads in GM’s Technical Center campus in Warren was already underway before the passage of the legislation, which is known as the SAVE Act. Now that the automaker has the go-ahead from the state, the operation will expand to include roadways around metro Detroit in the coming months. In those areas, trials will focus on the autonomous tech's development in winter weather conditions.

“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,” said General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra in the official statement. “Our autonomous technology will be reliable and safe, as customers have come to expect from any of our vehicles.”

GM had announced the formation of an autonomous vehicle engineering team back in January, along with its $500 million investment in Lyft. GM's acquisition of Cruise Automation in March pushed the project ahead even further. 

The automaker has been testing the self-driving Bolts on public roads in San Francisco and Scottsdale since June, with more than 40 autonomous vehicles logging miles in the two cities.

Michigan's self-driving laws have one very specific caveat: Only technology produced by auto manufacturers are allowable.

That means that if Uber, for instance, were explore a pilot testing program, it would run into some of the same issues it recently faced in San Francisco. There, the state challenged the company's legal right to have its tech on public streets without going through the proper DMV channels. Notably, GM Cruise LLC is one of the 20 entities to which the California DMV has issued a permit.

With Google set up in the state and other automakers rearing to hone their own self-driving tech, Michigan could once again become the center of innovation in the automotive world. This time around, the automation steering the industry forward won't just be on the assembly lines — it'll be right out on the streets.