GM expands Maven car-sharing service to 15 locations in Chicago

General Motors has expanded its Maven car-sharing service to 15 locations in Chicago, and hopes to add on-demand transportation to more local buildings and parking lots.

Chicago Tribune quoted Maven spokeswoman Annalisa Bluhm: "We're ready to scale up."

The introduction of Maven comes after GM acquired the assets of Sidecar, a ride-sharing website that stopped operations in December and bought a stake in Lyft, an Uber competitor. The service would compete with the rival Zipcar.

Maven also operates in New York; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Boston and Washington, DC.

Prices in Chicago, would start at $8 an hour and include insurance and fuel.

Unlike Zipcar, Maven currently does not charge a membership fee.

When Maven members reserve their choice of available Chevrolet, Cadillac and Buick vehicles, they also have the option of the vehicle being delivered to them through a deal with ZIRX, which offers services of moving cars from one location to another.

Despite the buzz about sharing services, a Pew Research Center survey found only 15 per cent of US citizens had used ride-hailing apps like Uber or Lyft. The survey polled 4,787 US adults in its first study of the scope of the "shared, collaborative and on-demand economy."

The Maven City service, which allows people who download the Maven smartphone app to rent a car from designated locations, is set to launch in Washington, DC. by the end of June, according to GM's press release.

Maven is initially offering four Chevrolet models in Ann Arbor - the Spark, Volt, Malibu and Tahoe. The hourly rates of Maven range from $6 (or $42 a day) for the Spark and Volt, to $8 (or $56 a day) for the Malibu, to $12 (or $84 per day) for the Tahoe.