GM Maven program lets owners rent car for cash

Chevrolet

• GM said on Tuesday it will let certain car owners rent their vehicles out on the Maven network to earn money. 
• The program is still in beta, but is currently available in Chicago, Detroit, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. 
• GM owners and eligible lessees of GMC, Chevrolet, Buick, or Cadillac vehicles that are model year 2015 and newer can participate in the program in the cities mentioned. 

General Motors announced a plan on Tuesday for owners to share their cars and earn money for doing so.

GM said it will use Maven, its smartphone-based car rental service, to let GM owners and eligible lessees of a GMC, Chevrolet, Buick, or Cadillac vehicle that are model year 2015 or newer to earn money by renting their car to members of the Maven network. 

This new peer-to-peer offering service is now available in Chicago, Detroit, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. The plan is for GM and Maven to collect data during this limited release before expanding to other cities in the fall. 

“Your car is one of the most expensive things you own. Sitting idle, it is a wasted asset,” said Julia Steyn, vice president, General Motors Urban Mobility and Maven in a published statement. “It’s time to put your car to work. Maven’s peer-to-peer offering is a smart way for owners to offset their vehicle investment.”

The Maven technology currently works as an intuitive car-rental service, where members use a smartphone app to rent and unlock vehicles. Under the new policy, these GM “peer cars” will now be added into the pool of available rental vehicles for Maven’s more than 150,000 members. GM owners who would like to list their cars for rental can do so through Maven’s website. 

“Maven is a platform designed for sharing and we’ve proven demand exists,” said Steyn in the same published statement. “In this beta, we are excited to offer GM owners the opportunity to capitalize on this demand and earn income by listing their vehicles.”

GM hasn’t finalized exactly how much a person will make off renting their car to others, but during beta testing the owner will get to keep the majority of the earnings, a GM spokesperson told Business Insider. 

“Currently, the owner will receive 60 percent of the earnings from each rental. Since this is a beta, we look forward to learning what works best in the service before we bring it scale,” the spokesperson said. 

Customers and owners alike will be protected by strict guidelines implemented by GM. All renters will be vetted before entering into the program and all participating vehicles will be insured by GM up to $1,000,000 dollars.