General Motors Corp. will begin testing its own self-driving cars in Michigan following the state’s decision to legalize the operation of autonomous vehicles, the company announced Thursday.

Testing of GM’s autonomous Chevrolet Bolt EV had been underway at GM’s Technical Center campus in Warren, Mich., but the new legislation will allow it to expand the test to public roads, not only around its testing center but also within metro Detroit as well. Previous test areas have included public roads in San Francisco and Scottsdale, Ariz.

GM’s self-driving Bolt EVs come equipped with LIDAR, cameras, sensors and other hardware which the company claims are designed “to ensure system safety leveraging GM’s proven manufacturing quality standards.” The Michigan legislation, dubbed SAVE, establishes regulations for the testing, use, and eventual sale of autonomous vehicle technology in the state. According to Forbes, the legislation is part of a push to restore the state’s image as a center of automotive innovation.

“Revolutionizing transportation for our customers while improving safety on roads is the goal of our autonomous vehicle technology, and today’s announcement gets us one step closer to making this vision a reality,” General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra said in a statement. “Our autonomous technology will be reliable and safe, as customers have come to expect from any of our vehicles.”

GM’s expansion of its own testing comes after the automotive giant signed on earlier this year to test self-driving cars on public roads starting in 2017 in conjunction with ridesharing company Lyft Inc. That deal included GM investing $500 million into Lyft as part of a joint effort to develop an on-demand network of self-driving taxis. GM also acquired Cruise Automation Inc. back in March, a company that specializes in autonomous vehicle technology, for a sum described at the time as “north of $1 billion” to bolster its push into self-driving vehicles.

Image courtesy of GM