Volkswagen has an idea of how we can ease congestion in major cities now and further into the future.
VW has launched a new company called Moia at TechCrunch Disrupt London 2016 – which will sit under the Volkswagen umbrella – to focus on new modes of transport such as shuttles and driverless cars.
Moia will work directly with cities to work out what transport options are needed.
To start, Moia will focus on setting up on-demand shuttle services where you’ll be able to request transport from an app and then ride in an electric run, multi-person vehicle. The purpose built car will be made by VW.
Like an Uber Pool
If you’re the only person who has ordered along that route, the company plans to outsource the trip to its new partner Gett, or potentially another company.
Moia has other aims as well to help mobility in future cities, including the option of autonomous cars.
CEO of Moia, Ole Harms, said, “We still move around our cities like we did 20 or 30 years ago, despite the fact we embraced technology in nearly every other aspect of our lives."
“There needs to be a better way – the solution can not be to simply add more cars to the street.”
Those are strong words coming from a car manufacturer. Moia marks the first time a major car manufacturer has tried to introduce itself to the drive sharing space.
Harms said, “We definitely see Uber and the other companies as our competitors – we really admire what they’ve achieved. In the end, we have our own vision."
Although the rollout plan is currently unclear, there was a lot of talk about London from CEO Harms and the firm will be based in Berlin. Harms did confirm the company will be focusing on Europe, US and China, but when or where we will see a launch of Moia's services is not yet certain.
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