Reports surfacing today indicate that General Motors will build and test several thousands of self-driving Chevrolet Bolts starting at the beginning of next year, according to Reuters. The American automaker will partner with Lyft Inc--the ride-sharing company in which GM has invested $500 million--to deploy the autonomous Bolts in Lyft's ride-sharing fleets. Even though GM has no immediate plans to sell self-driving Bolts to consumers quite yet, Lyft will reportedly be testing these specially-prepped Bolts across several different states. Over the past year, GM execs have mentioned the American automaker would manufacture and deploy autonomous vehicles in ride-sharing fleets, but never released when this would actually happen and with whom as a partner, even though it was assumed it would be Lyft, given GM's investment. In response to today's news from Reuters, though, GM has released a statement that hints at at some sort of timeline.

DETROIT – General Motors has started testing fully autonomous vehicles on public roads around its technical center in suburban Detroit. The announcement comes just one week after Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation that allows the cars to be tested on public roads without a driver or a steering wheel. But the automaker says that for now, it will have human backup drivers for its fleet of autonomous Chevrolet Bolt electric cars. Testing started Thursday on roads near the tech center in Warren, Michigan. The Bolts will soon move to the entire Detroit metro area, which will serve as the company's main testing center for snowy and cold weather.