Volkswagen Launches Full-Electric Car Sharing Service

FACTS

• The German car maker Volkswagen officially enters the car-sharing market with their We Share service.

• This offer is only available in Berlin, and relies on a fleet of full-electric vehicles.
• We Share fleet:
  • 1,500 e-Golf initially
  • 500 e-Up by the end of the year
  • New ID.3 model by mid-2020
• These vehicles are made available to drivers via car rental stations and the service can be monitored using a mobile app.
• Customer process: through the app, customers over 21 with an address registered in Germany and a driver’s licence may open a “We Share” account and specify their payment card information.
• Cost:
  • €0.19/minute to begin with
  • Then, €0.29/minute on average when all three car models will be available
  • Registrations are free
• Volkswagen plans to expand this service in Germany and, later on, reach out for other markets.

Car-sharing in Germany

• 2.5M customers
• 23,000 vehicles in circulation
• 800 towns covered

VOLKSWAGEN electric cars

• 70 models by 2028
• €30B invested by 2023

CHALLENGES

• Rebuilding their brand image. After having been impacted by the “Diesel Gate” scandal, Volkswagen makes a point of communicating on their electric mobility-focused work.
• Promoting electric models. This full-electric car-sharing offer is expected to increase car drivers’ familiarity with these vehicles and promote the associated car models.
• Accounting for their delay in entering the market. This full-electric approach is a means for Volkswagen to make their car-sharing offer stand out as rival players entered the market for shared mobility long ago.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• Volkswagen has been developing this offer for quite a while and, for this launch, bets on a consolidated strategy. They recently teamed up with retailers Lidl and Kaufland, enabling them to provide a broader car charging network to their future users. In Berlin only, 140 public stations are to be installed at 60 Lidl and 10 Kaufland locations.
• Volkswagen formalised their We Share project in August 2018. Back then, the car manufacturer deemed they could expand their service across Europe and North America by 2020. These ambitions have, however, been scaled down: for now, only two European towns (Prague and Hamburg) are expected to be covered in 2020.