- Volkswagen and Uber announced a partnership to add thousands of autonomous ID.Buzz electric vans to the rideshare company’s fleet.
- The two brands plan to add the autonomous vans to several U.S. markets over the next decade, starting with Los Angeles.
- Testing will begin in L.A. later this year, with plans to begin offering rides on Uber’s rideshare platform in 2026.
Over the last few months, residents in Atlanta and Austin may have noticed that when ordering a ride through Uber, a driverless Waymo vehicle showed up instead of a typical Uber. That’s because last fall, Uber and Waymo inked a deal for the former to manage and dispatch a fleet of Waymo’s autonomous Jaguar I-Paces. Now, Uber is looking to expand its autonomous fleet even more. The rideshare giant just signed a new deal with Volkswagen to deploy thousands of driverless Volkswagen ID.Buzz vans over the next 10 years. As with Waymo models in Atlanta and Austin, the electric Microbuses will be available directly in the Uber app. WaymoWaymo Driverless CarUber and VW’s driverless takeover will start in Los Angeles before the electric vans are rolled out to multiple unnamed cities in the U.S. market over the next decade. The driverless tech for the vans will be handled by MOIA, a subsidiary mobility brand owned by Volkswagen. Testing of the driverless models is scheduled to start later this year. Human workers will be in the vehicles during the initial testing and launch stages to adjust the technology and ensure safety. Volkswagen and Uber have certified that the vehicles will only proceed through testing steps after regulatory approvals have been received. Testing is expected to wrap up in time for Uber to begin adding the ID.Buzzes to its L.A. fleet sometime in 2026. Related StoriesJack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1.
After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf.
Source: caranddriver.com
