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GM Plans To Build, Test Thousands of Self-Driving Bolts In 2018 (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: General Motors Co plans to deploy thousands of self-driving electric cars in test fleets in partnership with ride-sharing affiliate Lyft Inc, beginning in 2018, two sources familiar with the automaker's plans said this week. It is expected to be the largest such test of fully autonomous vehicles by any major automaker before 2020, when several companies have said they plan to begin building and deploying such vehicles in higher volumes. Most of the specially equipped versions of the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle will be used by San Francisco-based Lyft, which will test them in its ride-sharing fleet in several states, one of the sources said. GM has no immediate plans to sell the Bolt AV to individual customers, according to the source. In a statement on Friday, GM said: "We do not provide specific details on potential future products or technology rollout plans. We have said that our AV technology will appear in an on-demand ride sharing network application sooner than you might think."

80 comments

  1. See about jumping in front of one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and co$$ect!

    1. Re:See about jumping in front of one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The car that has inhuman reaction time and records with radar, LIDAR, and video that you jumped in front of it? Sounds like a plan. You first.

    2. Re:See about jumping in front of one by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      No, no, I have been told it will be $3 a ride. The cheapest way to travel, take one every day to work. Everyone will be locked into such fierce competition that no one will make money on it.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    3. Re: See about jumping in front of one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is a test. They are testing the viability of driverless cars on willing test sibjects, probably to determine what kinds of injuries they will sustain in accidents.

  2. Now what will millennials do for work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Driving cars was their side hustle!

    1. Re:Now what will millennials do for work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's always backpage...

  3. Misleding headline by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 3, Funny

    GM Plans To Build, Test Thousands of Self-Driving Bolts In 2018

    I forgot that they had a car named "Bolt" and thought they were taking about the fastener. A bolt that could turn itself and tighten to the proper amount of torque would be pretty cool. Granted, it would probably be prohibitively expensive, and not really make a lot of sense, but cool none the less.

    1. Re:Misleding headline by Balthisar · · Score: 2

      That would be better than self-sealing stem bolts!

      --
      --Jim (me)
    2. Re:Misleding headline by mmell · · Score: 1

      What is a self-sealing stem bolt?

    3. Re:Misleding headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a friend who developed and patented that (your bolt). They taught me a lot about patents and the process. Things I learned - if you know what you are doing, it is very easy to get around patents, getting a patent is the easy part, the hard part is selling it and never get married because you will lose it in the divorce case.

    4. Re:Misleding headline by slew · · Score: 1

      What is a self-sealing stem bolt?

      From DS-9, even hard core trekkies would have a hard time with that plot device reminiscent of Milo Minderbinder or perhaps the internet story of one red paperclip...

    5. Re:Misleding headline by TooTechy · · Score: 1

      Hopefully the car wont bolt like a horse.

    6. Re:Misleding headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was reminded of this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    7. Re:Misleding headline by Moridineas · · Score: 1

      I literally only read the comments to see if someone made this joke. Not disappointed :-)

    8. Re:Misleding headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's for use with a reverse-ratching routing planer. Duh.

    9. Re:Misleding headline by RockDoctor · · Score: 1
      I thought exactly the same too. And I've spent years hanging my life (and other people) off "self-driving bolts" driven into limestone cliffs etc.

      The "self-driving" designation, for Hilti, at least, refers to "in this package are a combination of hole-cutting bit and permanent anchor" ; you're still expected to supply the power (elbow grease), holding tool (a sort of cold chisel body), and final connector (which threads into the bolt, and has a head of your choice for your application).

      Actually, Hilti still supply the final connectors, but not the single-use bits. And I can understand why. They take real care from the end-user.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  4. Self-driving bolts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh! Do nails next!

  5. Sooo by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Are all of the passengers in these self driving cars going to be neat and tidy? Without a semblance of someone being in charge of the car, I think the future od driverless cars might have the unmistakable reek of shit and piss. I don't know is this particular startup is going to be sans a person that sits there and does nothing, but this will be an issue some day. people sans supervision do some odd things.

    --
    The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    1. Re:Sooo by djinn6 · · Score: 2

      Are all of the passengers in these self driving cars going to be neat and tidy? Without a semblance of someone being in charge of the car, I think the future od driverless cars might have the unmistakable reek of shit and piss.

      There's a simple fix for that. The car takes photos of the interior between every passenger pickup. If the passenger after you complains, then you'll be charged a cleaning fee of say, $30.

    2. Re:Sooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are cameras galore on those things. You can't order a ride without a debit/credit card, likely in their name. I don't think this argument has legs.

    3. Re:Sooo by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      Without a semblance of someone being in charge of the car, I think the future od driverless cars might have the unmistakable reek of shit and piss.

      People ride "driverless" elevators everyday without shitting or pissing in them. Why would horizontal movement be so different from vertical movement?

      Unlike an elevator, to get into a self-driving-taxi you will need to provide a CC#, or an account number linked to your identity. Your behavior in the vehicle will be recorded by one or more $5 cameras. If you soil the seats, your account will be debited, as you agreed when you clicked on the TOS.

    4. Re:Sooo by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't that encourage everyone to complain? I'm pretty end goal minded and if I got in a car that was filthy, unless it had poop on the sat, I probably wouldn't notice anything wrong as long as it got me to where I was going. But the person after that could be my girlfriend who would complain about a seat belt not being fully retracted when she got into it.

    5. Re:Sooo by djinn6 · · Score: 1

      That's why the car takes photos between every passenger. If you receive a complaint, you just have to point to the photo it took before you got in.

      And unlike you, Lyft can ignore your girlfriend's stupid complaints.

    6. Re:Sooo by slew · · Score: 2

      People ride "driverless" elevators everyday without shitting or pissing in them. Why would horizontal movement be so different from vertical movement?

      I wish I could be more optimistic than you... For example, BART.

      Unlike an elevator, to get into a self-driving-taxi you will need to provide a CC#, or an account number linked to your identity. Your behavior in the vehicle will be recorded by one or more $5 cameras. If you soil the seats, your account will be debited, as you agreed when you clicked on the TOS.

      Although a CC is probably a deterrent, ask any taxi driver that works the downtown late-night last-call scene, and they will tell you bodily fluids/solids are routinely ejected in their vehicles. Of course these are the same vehicles used in the daytime...

    7. Re: Sooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are lucky to live in a nice place.

      Visit the other side of the tracks where they post signs in the elevators begging people not to vomit in them.

    8. Re:Sooo by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 2

      People ride "driverless" elevators everyday without shitting or pissing in them.

      Uh...depends. I've been in some pretty rank elevators in subway stations around Long Beach, CA, and New York City.

    9. Re:Sooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      People ride "driverless" elevators everyday without shitting or pissing in them. Why would horizontal movement be so different from vertical movement?

      Unlike an elevator, to get into a self-driving-taxi you will need to provide a CC#, or an account number linked to your identity. Your behavior in the vehicle will be recorded by one or more $5 cameras. If you soil the seats, your account will be debited, as you agreed when you clicked on the TOS.

      Apparently most people on Slashdot have no idea what goes on in Ubers.

      Uber works by accounts: the rider has already put their CC in; Uber knows who the responsible person is.
      You just have no idea what these NON-anonymous people typically do.

      Speaking as an Uber driver... The cameras will have to do quite a lot of AI in order to catch all the things
      that passengers routinely do to my car. Vomiting (leaking and trying to hide it, just onto the floormats
      and carpets where it can marinate and cook for a few hours, or projectile all over the place and down
      nside the windows and cracks), wiping snot on the seats, along with deliberate (knife) destruction
      such as ripping and tearing...there is no end to it. Every week, I have to go out of service for the rest of the
      night to attempt to clean the vehicle. Also, who is going to clean up the spilled alcohol and other drinks,
      the pizza debris, and all the other crap? What about dealing with all the people getting in who has pissed
      or shat themselves? Even having been there the whole time on the trip, we have to inspect the car after each
      customer, to see what fun there has been. Who will pick up the discarded snot tissues,
      medical bandage waste, and the empty beer and soda bottles stuffed into the door pockets?
      These things are simple for a human.

      How will the car manage to evict the passenger who has fallen asleep?
      Are they totally drunk? Do they need help? Are they sick? Dead?

      Lots of people get in the car totally drugged out of their minds one way or another,
      and have no idea where they are or what's going on.

      Who will stop the customers from having oral and copulation sex during the rides?
      People try that all the time, too and yes it leaves...residues.

      You think taxicabs are nasty and dirty? Prefer Uber because the car is nicer?
      Well, first of all that doesn't happen by itself.
      Wait till you get in a car that's only been supervised by a robot.
      (Second of all, there is a huge service cost in this part of the model, which is that
      Uber fires everyone (not me yet) after a while, in order to churn the fleet.
      Because new drivers brings new cars, while the previous ones have been slowly destroyed.)

      There are all just a tiny sampling of a half-zillion things that self-driving cars will need to do, that they cannot do yet,
      and that list is even larger and more difficult when there is no human owner-operator aboard, just JohnnyCab.
      We haven't even talked here about the actual ride, which is another half-zillion contingencies.

      Btw I'm in the Washington D.C. area - one of the highest paying Uber markets.
      I own my car, so after car expense (gas etc.), I am paid about 45 cents per mile.
      There are no benefits or other compensation of any kind.. That's before taxes.
      Most trips are 0.5 to 3.7 miles.
      Just so you know.

    10. Re:Sooo by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      People who are coming home drunk can't help themselves. They will at least be puked in over and over again.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    11. Re:Sooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Challenge accepted. I can soil your car seats without evidence on camera. All I have to do is relax.

    12. Re:Sooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I expect vomit and semen will be the top of the list. In some cases delivered together.

    13. Re:Sooo by wvmarle · · Score: 1

      People ride "driverless" elevators everyday without shitting or pissing in them. Why would horizontal movement be so different from vertical movement?

      Elevators: usually the rider is not alone but there are strangers present; even if alone at any one time the door may open with other people wanting to get on. That's even before considering the CCTV cameras and the fact that rides are normally really short (less than a minute).

      In short: there is no (expectation of) privacy in lifts. When it comes to cars, even when on the road, that's a whole different story.

    14. Re:Sooo by bmo · · Score: 1

      It's a /requirement/ that any given elevator in a mass transit system must smell of piss.

      Boston, DC, Long Beach, NYC, BART, Tube, doesn't matter.

      --
      BMO

    15. Re:Sooo by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 0

      There are cameras galore on those things. You can't order a ride without a debit/credit card, likely in their name. I don't think this argument has legs.

      Never underestimate the ability of people do deface anything. Then again, cameras are foolproof, as long as you make people ride naked, and have individual cameras on everything. Nothing escapes a camera. So yeah, security is perfect. As opposed to actually taking a shit, I'd surmise I could manage to drop a bag of it in a car, undetected.

      But aside from this case, if camera laden city buses are any indication, these things will be smelly fairly quickly.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    16. Re:Sooo by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      People ride "driverless" elevators everyday without shitting or pissing in them. Why would horizontal movement be so different from vertical movement?

      In my wife's industry, one of the less pleasant but repeating jobs is re-flooring elevators. They actually do an impermeable membrane, and tiles on top of it. then every couple months, just redo the whole thing. The installers hate it, and are even paid much more to do the job.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    17. Re:Sooo by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Although a CC is probably a deterrent, ask any taxi driver that works the downtown late-night last-call scene, and they will tell you bodily fluids/solids are routinely ejected in their vehicles. Of course these are the same vehicles used in the daytime...

      And anyone thinking that it is always teh last person in teh cab or elevator or bus is living in a fool's paradise. People are fucking pigs. So let's say I decide to take a dump in the car. Obviously I'd be a pig. Well, teh next pig gets in the car. Maybe piggie doesn't care. so he goes to his destination. You could have a few more people before someone complained. It simply does not follow that the objectionable ejecta bame from teh previous passenger.

      And before we get all hung up on the specific physical act of defecation, it is really really difficult for a camera to say, observe a person urinating.

      The smells in buses and elevators would seem to confirm my concept.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    18. Re:Sooo by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      People ride "driverless" elevators everyday without shitting or pissing in them.

      Uh...depends. I've been in some pretty rank elevators in subway stations around Long Beach, CA, and New York City.

      Or any college town. Damn near anywhere.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    19. Re: Sooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No driver means room for puke accommodations.

    20. Re:Sooo by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

      Are all of the passengers in these self driving cars going to be neat and tidy? Without a semblance of someone being in charge of the car, I think the future od driverless cars might have the unmistakable reek of shit and piss. I don't know is this particular startup is going to be sans a person that sits there and does nothing, but this will be an issue some day. people sans supervision do some odd things.

      As the electric cars come to market, each nds car will remove 10 gallons / week of gasoline consumption. That makes you wonder if it is worth building an Oil pipeline through the Decota s

      --
      Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
    21. Re:Sooo by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      As the electric cars come to market, each nds car will remove 10 gallons / week of gasoline consumption. That makes you wonder if it is worth building an Oil pipeline through the Decota s

      That is a good question, because as I tell folks - this is happening, like it or not. I love electric cars. I'm sort of okay with driverless cars, but not certain about the scaling up issues.

      But let's say I buy a Tesla In addition to the gasoline it does not use, I can easily charge it via solar at home. No petrochemical or grid impact.

      Oil won't go away as easily as coal, but demand might go down quicker than some proponents will admit.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  6. It will use software ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... called a Bolt driver.

    Use the links on this page to download the latest version of Bolt drivers.

    --
    --
    NOTE: Don't actually download that shit. I don't know what it is. Try the fish. Tip jar's on the piano.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  7. Self driving fags by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Coming to California

    1. Re:Self driving fags by mmell · · Score: 1

      Coming to California

      . . . and on your tongue?

  8. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Corporations need breeders. That is why they treat all of the smart people that refuse to breed so badly.

  9. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They are so hateful to normal people because they need white trash that breeds.

  10. The ultimate botnet. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We KNOW about security concerns with vehicle manufacturers in particular. We KNOW industries are salivating at the prospect of being able to remote-control vehicles for delivery and other services. Is anyone considering that at the point that you make physical, real-world steel automatons and hook them up to radio/internet commands and let the "invisible hand" of the "free market" police itself as we've done to date in every sector of every business market, we are making inevitable PHYSICAL BOTNETS, real world malware ex ferro. It is INEVITABLE.

    Should we not be also preparing physical, real-world solutions for when these machinations are controlled by malicious parties en masse? A we naively destined to live out the plot of maximum overdrive?

    1. Re:The ultimate botnet. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some hero needs to p0wn them early and in a non-destructive, funny way, before the damage is severe.

      I'm thinking time triggered automatic 'lawn jobs', first time unattended, on the nearest police facility with a lawn, say midnight, 4th of July, when you know the cops are busy. With all obstacle detection still working, so the first cop that steps near it's path stops it. Could be a lot worse. Many lawns will be ruined. You'd have to be crazy to step near a herd of rampaging self driving cars, even/especially if they are doing synchronised figure 8 donuts backwards (front drive).

      You'd want to program the cars to move along to the next station after x laps around the lawn. Increase x by 1 with each cop spot.

      It's going to be cool to be a kid in a few, oh to be too young to be charged as an adult again...

  11. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Breeders hate the Earth and love humanity more than the Earth. They need to be beaten to death. Thinking people are not breeding now.

  12. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And even worse is how they treat women that don't want to be raped.

  13. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You people are destroying humanity. No one that has had children deserves to not be beaten.

  14. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This. Breeders have destroyed this planet. They need to be beaten to death.

  15. Who will buy them? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

    Dolts.

    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  16. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You should get some meds. Get some meds.

  17. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those people just don't understand how he damage they're doing.

  18. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most companies hate the Earth so they only want to hire breeders.

  19. Method by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because it's GM AI, each car will be customized to drive around one particular block, taking only right turns. Five such cars will be allocated to each block. Your Lyft ride will consist of a series of rides from block to block.

  20. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here in the Seattle area the police will beat you for not being a breeder.

  21. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This. They are trained in telling us what to do.

  22. Getting closer... by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

    Now if they can just make a self-sealing stem bolt, we'll be all set!

  23. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Normal people aren't breeders but Republicans expect us to be.

  24. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Good for you for refusing to become a breeder. I don't know anyone that has; but in other states people breed which proves them to be pieces of shot that need to die.

  25. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is our deaths that they want.

  26. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Like nearly all companies. They want us to be raped. I don't know any woman that have ever wanted to have sex, bit four of my friends were raped so often that they had children.

  27. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Breeders are greedy. They want to get money back and kill those of us that don't pay more than our fair share.

  28. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Rape is how most corporations make money.

  29. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people an by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This. That is why they be how they be.

  30. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people and. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This. They hate women and men that aren't breeders.

  31. Re: Considering GM's hatred of normal people an by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And how most men live. Men are creatures of rape.

  32. 2018? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bollocks.

    "Self-driving" technology isn't advanced enough to be "thousands" rolling around SF in 2018. A few test mules, sure, but not "thousands" of active cars.

  33. Nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    | GM Plans To Build, Test Thousands of Self-Driving Bolts In 2018

    Tesla caught us with the pants down. We have nothing. Let's start with a press release.

  34. Self-driving bolts by Residentcur · · Score: 1

    I like the concept of self-driving lower-case bolts.

  35. Wake me up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... when they're Self-Sealing Stem Bolts.

  36. Carsharing in Europe: still no shit. by DrYak · · Score: 1

    Meanwhile, there are tons of car-sharing programs in Europe
    (book a car online, find the car, open with your RFID card or app, ride it, return it...
    think "car rental" except by the hours instead of the day, and entirely between you, the car and an online webapp, without ever needing to speak to an actual human)

    Not a single human interaction needed along the line.
    Yet, there are still no endemic problems of people taking dumps into the cars.

    I have used such system in Switzerland (Mobility, Catch-a-Car, ElectricEasy, ...), Germany (DB-Carsharing).
    I've had friends use such systems in France (Autolib').
    Again, these are systems that already exist in the wild *right now* (and have existed for the past decade) where one can enter a car, without ever needing to interract with a human.
    None of us has ever found one of those "shit-filled" cars that haunts the nightmares of /. readers whenever such a thing (a car that can be accessed without another human watching) gets mentioned.

    The only subtle difference is that these cars are non-autonomous, which require :
    - the driver / "renter" to have a valid driving license.
    - said driver to not be completely drunk to avoid losing the above mentioned license and/or causing accidents.

    So maybe *autonomous* shared cars would see a slight increase of user who got extra charged for cleaning the car, because they puked into it.
    And users who need to pay for a *26-hours* long rental and/or overtime, because they passed out drunk and overslept in the car.

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
    1. Re:Carsharing in Europe: still no shit. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Meanwhile, there are tons of car-sharing programs in Europe (book a car online, find the car, open with your RFID card or app, ride it, return it... think "car rental" except by the hours instead of the day, and entirely between you, the car and an online webapp, without ever needing to speak to an actual human)

      Not a single human interaction needed along the line.

      Really interesting, I have a few questions - When you say find it, you mean that it's located some where at random, or there is a garage or some similar place. Are the keys in it? Is there limitations on drive length? Do you fuel the vehicle, or is that all contained in the hourly price? The closest thing we have here is some bicycle sharing programs, which also work pretty well.

      Yet, there are still no endemic problems of people taking dumps into the cars.

      I suspect it is because of a combination of things - the lesser anonymity, I know people will use a credit card, but for some dumb reason a driver's license still seems to carry more gravitas. Another matter is that the driver at least is going to be sober. And presumably his friends aren't going to be pigs in front of him even if they were inebriated.

      I wouldn't have made the same claim re defilement of the cars if we were talking about a program like you mentioned. I actually like that concept.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  37. Wrenches Of the World, Unite! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is madness! These self-driving bolts will put us hard working, tax-paying, God-fearing wrenches out of business. This shall not pass!

    Wrenches Of the World, Unite! We must not submit to tyranny!!

  38. Details on car-sharing by DrYak · · Score: 1

    Meanwhile, there are tons of car-sharing programs in Europe
    (book a car online, find the car, open with your RFID card or app, ride it, return it...
    think "car rental" except by the hours instead of the day, and entirely between you, the car and an online webapp, without ever needing to speak to an actual human)

    Not a single human interaction needed along the line.

    Really interesting, I have a few questions - When you say find it, you mean that it's located some where at random, or there is a garage or some similar place.

    Several different system exists.
    Exemple :

    - Mobility (CH) and DB Carsharing (DE)
    The car are normally waiting for you at their respective station. (There are lots of them. At least at each train station. In big cities you can find a station in lots of big underground city parking). You take the car for this station, and at the end of your micro-rental, put it back at the same station.
    (A little bit more stringent than what you've used with bicycles : you need to return it to its corresponding station).
    Though there exist pilot projects to allow you to commute between stations, typically along some frequented path where every single individual only goes one way (e.g.: one way trips between the city and the airport).

    Given that there are all-electric drive cars in the fleets of some companies (Mobility do have a few Renault Zoe in their fleet, Electriceasy has a 100% electric fleet, mostly Citroen C-Zero) you definitely need to return the car in a specific station that has a corresponding high-speed charger (battery full within 30min, so by the time the next renter comes, the car is good to go).

    - Catch-a-car (CH) :
    Completely random. Within a region where that service is available (usually a dense city), you pick cars whenever you find them and leave them wherever you want (as long as they are correctly parked, and within the geographic region - a.k.a. the above mentionned city).
    It's even more freedom than your typically bicycle sharing service (it's closer to how anonymous bicycle might be informally handled on big campuses :-P )

    - Auto'lib (FR)
    I don't remember clearly, I think the friends mentioned that you can roam between stations... (like the Mobility pilot project).

    Are the keys in it?

    Usually: yes.
    The first time to unlock and unblock the car (the same kind of blocking normally used by the car's alarm system on privately owned car), you open the car using a RFID card. Then you use the keys (usually waiting for you in the glove box or some other similar place) for the remainder of your rental.
    At the end of the rental, you leave the key in their stash, and re-lock/re-block the car using the RFID card.

    The exception: some modern car (e.g.: the electric Renault Zoe) don't have keys at all, but exclusively use a wireless fob.
    On these car, the rental computer is connected to the wireless fob system, and you always use the RFID.

    Is there limitations on drive length?

    On the complete random system :
    Nope. Drive for as long as wish.
    As soon you take a car, the car is marked *unavailable* in the system.
    Once you finish and re-lock it with the RFID or the App, the car is marked again as *available for rental* in the system.
    Using the App, you can *pre-book* a car : Say you don't stumble upon a car in your street. You fire up the app, find that there's a car 2 blocks aways. You can book it from the app and the car will be reserved for you and unavailable to other in the system, as if you've already taken it - rental timer starts ticking right away, so you're also paying as if you've already taken it.

    On "Catch-a-car", you pay by the minute, with 2 different prices depending if you're driving the car, or if the car is waiting for you parked somewhere (i.e.: you prebooked it, or you haven't returned it *available for rental* again).

    On the systems

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