Volkswagen partners with Uber to launch EV pilot

Through Volkswagen’s e-Golf, Uber now has a locally zero-emission alternative from the Volkswagen model portfolio available in Berlin. The main aim of the pilot project is to use a range of year-old e-Golf vehicles which could run into three digits. Volkwagen has already been leveraging the e-Golf successfully for its own car sharing service We Share since 2018.

Holger B. Santel, Head of Sales and Marketing Germany for the Volkswagen Passenger Car brand, commented: “Through our cooperation with Uber, we’re helping improve air quality in urban areas through locally carbon-neutral electric vehicles. In addition, with the demanding continuous operation of battery-electric vehicles in a ride hailing service, we will gain valuable experience which we will be able to use for future vehicles.”

Christoph Weigler, General Manager Uber DACH, added: “We are pleased to have gained Volkswagen, one of the world’s leading drivers for e-mobility, as a partner for our intermediation platform. Electric vehicles from Volkswagen are a perfect match for our sustainable “Uber Green” concept. This cooperation offers our hire car partners an economically attractive possibility of switching to zero-emission drive systems at short notice. In addition, our experience shows that people are considerably more open to the topic of e-mobility after their first ride in an all-electric vehicle.”

As a part of its e-offensive, the Volkswagen brand aims to offer electric cars in all of its major vehicle segments by 2022. Volkswagen hopes to become the world market leader in e-mobility during the coming years and is set to invest US$38.4bn group-wide by 2024, of which 11 billion will be invested in the Volkswagen brand alone. By 2025, Volkswagen itself aims to produce 1.5 million e-cars.

The news follows Uber’s announcement in September that it plans to evolve into a zero-emission mobility platform by 2040, with 100% of the rides offered using zero-emission vehicles, public transport or micro-mobility offerings.