The new electric Volkswagen Mini-bus has a range of 300 kilometers and its battery can be charged at 80% in 30 minutes.
Moia, the mobility services company of Volkswagen has presented the electric van that will be used for its ride-pooling project.
The company plans to provide the Uber Pool style service with its new vans in the German city of Hamburg in 2018.
“Passengers mark their starting point and desired destination in our app. An algorithm identifies passengers with similar destinations, calculates the best possible route, ensures the greatest use of the vehicle and avoids diversions. The result is a lower number of vehicles on the streets of the city, less pollution, noise and stress, “said Moia.
The van has six leather seats for passengers, luggage space, LED reading light, USB charger and wifi.
The vehicle was developed in 10 months by Moia and two divisions of Volkswagen. It has a range of 300 kilometres and its battery can be charged 80% in 30 minutes, said the firm.
Moia was launched by VW in December 2016 with the aim of reducing traffic in cities and solving urban transport problems.
Throughout this year, it has undertaken projects with partners in Finland and completed a test service with 30,000 trips in Hannover, Germany.
“We have set ourselves the goal of taking more than one million cars off the roads in Europe and the United States by 2025,” explained Ole Harms, CEO of Moia.