Magna Partners with May Mobility on Self-Driving Shuttle

Canada’s Magna International Inc. is teaming up with May Mobility Inc., an Ann Arbor Mich.-based startup, to deploy and test self-driving shuttle vans.

The partners plan to begin operating a small number of transit vehicles later this month as part of a ride-sharing scheme in Detroit. The companies aim to eventually expand to other markets with the potential for hundreds or thousands of vehicles.

Under the agreement, Magna’s Troy, Mich., custom build center will retrofit and assemble May Mobility’s self-driving transit vehicles with its own autonomous vehicle systems, including sensor integration and drive-by-wire technology. Magna also will install custom doors, a panoramic glass roof and make other modifications.

The micro-transit electric buses can carry about 10 people and have a top speed of 25 mph. May Mobility conducted a pilot test of the original design last autumn in Detroit.

Earlier this year, the one-year-old startup raised nearly $12 million in seed funding led by the venture capital units of BMW and Toyota. Co-founded by CEO Edwin Olson, chief operating Officer Alisyn Malek and chief technical officer Steve Vozar, May Mobility’s team has experience at Ford, General Motors, Toyota, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Michigan.