Volkswagen WeShare electric car sharing service launched

Volkswagen has launched an electric car sharing service called WeShare in Berlin. The service will initially be offered in a 150 sq. km area including the city center and beyond the city train ring line. The area will be expanded once the fleet size increases. Volkswagen claims to be charging a minimum of 19 cents per minute for the service.

The fleet consists of 1,500 e-Golf vehicles. These will be followed by 500 e-up! cars, which are expected to be introduced to the fleet early next year, followed by the electric ID.3, which is expected to be launched next year. WeShare employees will collect the cars when the battery is low and charge them at Berlin's public charging network. These include charging points at 70 branches of food retailers Lidl and Kaufland. Volkswagen could later introduce incentives for the users to encourage them to charge the vehicles themselves.

WeShare customers will need to be at least 21-years old and will need to have a smartphone as well as a credit card. Additionally, they should also have had a driving license for at least 1 year and should be registered at an address in Germany. The service is expected to be launched in Prague with a collaboration with Skoda and then in Hamburg in 2020.