---
title: "Lyft Drivers in San Francisco Could Get Free Chevy Bolts"
description: "Another perk to the partnership between GM and Lyft."
date: "2016-07-11"
modified: "2016-07-11"
authors:
  - name: "Aaron Brown"
    job_title: "Staff Editor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/aaron-brown"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/4366/lyft-drivers-in-san-francisco-could-get-free-chevy-bolts"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Bolt"
  - "Chevrolet"
  - "compact"
  - "Electric Vehicle"
  - "Hatchback"
  - "Lyft"
---

# Lyft Drivers in San Francisco Could Get Free Chevy Bolts

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/071116-chevy-bolt-lyft-hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

As part of the comprehensive partnership between the two companies, General Motors is giving San Francisco-area [Lyft drivers access to the Chevrolet Bolt](<https://fortune.com/2016/07/11/gm-lyft-drivers-chevy-bolt/>), GM's new electric car. And they're getting a sweet deal on [GM's Tesla Model 3 fighter](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/3013/general-motors-exec-throws-shade-at-tesla-model-3>), too. Instead of having to lease or buy the cars on their own, the app'scontractors employees will soon be able to [rent the cars using the automaker's Express Drive program](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/2582/general-motors-lyft-to-rent-ride-for-hire-vehicles>), which also includes insurance and general vehicle maintenance.

The Express Drive program, announced in March, is an "all-inclusive rental program." It gives Lyft drivers who don't have company-approved vehicles the opportunity to pay GM directly for a car, with insurance and service fees included. The big perk, however, comes for frequent Lyft drivers; anyone who picks up more than 65 rides each week doesn't have to pay a dime for their new GM vehicle.

The service was first launched in Chicago; as the went on, Lyft expanded Express Drive to Baltimore, Boston, and Washington D.C. Now the mustachioed ride-hailing company is pushing the program into San Francisco, complete with one of the General's most anticipated new cars: the battery-powered Chevrolet Volt.

For those who may have spaced out amongst all the supercar news these days, the [Chevy Bolt is a completely electric vehicle with a 200-mile range and a bunch of techie gizmos](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/1556/chevrolet-bolt-may-be-the-ev-to-conquer-america>) to play around with. On the inside, it has a 10.2-inch center touchscreen with Chevy's MyLink infotainment system, 4G LTE capability, a Surround Vision camera system that allows the driver to see all the way around the car, and a feature that allows owners to compare how efficiently they drive their little electricity-filled hatches. Before tax benefits, it has a starting price of $37,500—not that it matters to frequent Lyft drivers. It's also a car that [some of us here at](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/1944/the-chevy-bolt-will-fail>)*[The Drive](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/1944/the-chevy-bolt-will-fail>)* have [deeply varying opinions on](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/2078/the-chevy-bolt-is-a-huge-win>).

Though GM's press release stated Express Drive would be coming to San Francisco sometime this summer, the carmaker told *The Drive* that Lyft drivers would not, in fact, be likely to score early access to the vehicles, [as some have reported](<https://electrek.co/2016/07/11/chevy-bolt-ev-lyft-drivers-california/>). "Bolt EVs will come into Express Drive as soon as we can get them, likely by the end of the year," a GM spokesperson said via email. The electric car is also expected to arrive at regular dealerships later this year.

In January, GM announced it would be investing $500 million into Lyft, and that the companies would be [creating their own fleet of autonomous ride-hailing vehicles](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/1497/gm-and-lyfts-ride-share-network-will-be-self-driving>). The Express Drive program appears to one of the stepping stones toward that goal.

## Author
Aaron was previously a contributing writer with Jalopnik and has also written for Business Insider covering cars. When he's not in the office writing the news, you'll probably find him thrashing a beater car around a RallyCross.

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/aaronmaxb>)  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/aaronmaxb>)