In an attempt to boost the gig economy for drivers, GM’s ride sharing wing, Maven, is rolling out a new service ‘Maven Gig’ this Wednesday, which will provide the drivers an easy access to a car for short stints for stuffs like food delivery or providing cab services. The service could be availed at $229 per week, inclusive of insurance, unlimited miles, free charging at EVgo stations and regular maintenanc. This could be used by anyone interested in earning something extra through freelance driving. Maven Gig initially provides access to just the Chevrolet Bolt EVs, however, new cars may appear depending on its success.
The Detroit automaker inaugurated the Maven mobility and car-sharing brand in January 2016 in Ann Arbor, and Gig is its most recent offering. Other services offered by Maven include Maven City and Maven’s Express Drive program for Lyft drivers, which will continue to exist along with Gig. But still, Gig is by far the most flexible and versatile on demand service by the company.
In an interview Maven’s Director of Commercial Mobility Strategy Rachel Bhattacharya said;
I would call it complimentary to, but also an evolution of what we’ve already been doing with the gig economy. One of the needs we kept hearing from our renters, and one of the things we’ve seen in data about how people participate as a 1099 driver is multiple platforms. We know that our customers are really looking to earn on their own terms, drive for whoever they want. Everybody has slightly different ways of earning and maximizing how they benefit from the gig economy, and we wanted to open that up.
Maven Gig is having its launch in San Diego right now, from where it will later roll out to San Francisco and Los Angeles. The reason behind the selection of these areas for the debut is the exceptionally high demand of on-demand services in these areas along with the existing infrastructures of EVgo which are available in these cities.
Bhattacharya said:
We will be rolling out in other markets, and we’re coordinating closely with [EVgo]. What we do is give them known demand on a known cadence in specific markets. So as they’re looking to build and rolling our their infrastructure, they don’t have to just speculatively build and hope people show up. We can say ‘This month, this city, we’re gonna drop this many Bolts, and then a month later we’ll add this many Bolts,’ and we can work closely with them.”
All this will help in the simulation and development of more and more EV charging infrastructure, which will further encourage the drivers to invest more into into EVs. Maven has by far deployed more than 100 Bolt EVs across carsharing services in California, which is great for EVgo charging demand.
Bhattacharya explains;
What we’re doing is, we’re bringing you a vehicle, you can use it for personal use in the City program, you can go away for the weekend, you can do a trip, you can just run errands around town, and if you just want to pay for an hour or two of use, that’s great. If you decide you want to participate in the gig economy and earn for a while, you can take this car for as little as a week, as long as a month-plus, and earn with it, and also obviously use it for personal use, though you’re committing to a slightly longer contract. If after a few weeks of that, you earned enough for whatever you were trying to do, you can drop back down to the City program and just use the car when you need it.
Maven Gig surely is more expensive in comparison to lease, but it certainly spares you from any sort of long term commitment as well. And apart from that, the company does not allow you to worry about insurance, fuel costs, and maintenance, which is a big relief. Therefore, it could be concluded that this the most perfect shot for city residents trying to benefit from the gig economy.
