Volkswagen has launched WeShare, its 100% electric car sharing program, in Berlin. The program will begin with 1,500 e-Golf vehicles. VW plans to add 500 additional e-up! vehicles at the beginning of 2020 as well as the ID.3 after releasing it in mid-2020. WeShare is a “free-floating” system without rental stations and is operated via an app. An expansion of WeShare together with ŠKODA, is planned for 2020, first in Prague before expanding to Hamburg.

Initially, WeShare’s service area will cover about 150 km² around the city center. VW will extend the area in line with the expansion of the fleet. At launch, customers will pay a discounted tariff of $0.19 per minute. From September onwards, VW plans to offer three categories of tariffs, at an average price of $0.29 per minute.

WeShare will recharge its fleet on the public charging network in Berlin, including newly built charging points at 70 supermarkets around Berlin.

Currently, service employees will collect and charge vehicles, but in the future VW says users will receive incentives for recharging vehicles themselves.

WeShare is part of VW’s larger “Volkswagen We” ecosystem, which is a pool of smartphone-based programs and services for personal vehicles. VW has already launched several “We” services including parking service We Park, We Experience for personalized recommendations for services near the user, and We Deliver, which allows users to use their car trunk for delivery services.

“With WeShare, we have tailored car sharing to meet the needs of users: easy to use with 100% electric operation on green power,” said Volkswagen Board Member Christian Senger. “With such a consistent, broad offering, we stand out from the competition.”

Source: Volkswagen