DURBAN - The Volkswagen Group will be launching an electric car-sharing service called WE in Germany.
After being launched in Germany in 2019, the car-sharing service will be moving to other major cities including Europe, Asia and North America in 2020.
The car-sharing services entire fleet will be electric cars said the VW Group.
A statement from Volkswagen board member for sales Jurgen Stackmann said that they are sure that there is still potential in the car-sharing market.
Stackmann added that is why we are going into this market with a complete single-source concept that covers mobility needs from the quick journey that takes just a few minutes to the long vacation trip.
WE has more features than just car-sharing. They will in the beginning focus on the electric cars and later include other modes of transport like scooters.
The car company sees the WE platform doing more than just car-sharing. They also want customers to use the car-sharing service, rent a scooter and even pay for parking.
VW also see WE being linked to MOIA, their mobility company that has launched a ride-sharing service with an all-electric shuttle vehicle. The all-electric car debuted last year has been created with enough space for up to six people.
UMI (Urban Mobility International) will be managing the vehicle-on-demand services on the WE platform. UMI is a subsidiary of VW AG that started operating i 2018.
Electric car-sharing service
Renault is partnering with the Paris government to give Parisians access to electric cars. Currently they have deployed a fleet of electric cars that Paris residents can use 24/7.
The partnership between the car company and Paris is an effort to end the sales of new diesel and gasoline cars.
Cars are set aside for long journeys and are kept in designated parking lots and can only be accessed via special stations. Cars created for shorter distances will be accessible with the stations.