Volkswagen’s new partnership with MILES Mobility will see an extra 10,000 electric vehicles (EVs) available

The Volkswagen Group is driving forward its transformation into a mobility provider and has announced a partnership with MILES Mobility, the car-sharing company. MILES Mobility has acquired UMI Urban Mobility International GmbH from Volkswagen Passenger Cars and with it the WeShare car-sharing business and will integrate it into its existing portfolio. 

MILES has ordered more than 10,000 all-electric vehicles (EVs) from the Audi, Seat/Cupra and Volkswagen Passenger Cars brands. These are scheduled for delivery from 2023. Volkswagen aims to continue to participate in the rapidly growing market for new mobility services while offering a wide choice to its customers.

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Dr Christian Dahlheim, Chairman of the Board of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, said: “New mobility services such as car subscription models and car sharing are enjoying strong demand. This is a trend in which we would like to participate more. 

“With a strong partner to operate the fleet and with vehicles from various Volkswagen Group brands, car sharing will become available to an even broader spectrum of customers. 

“We are pleased to have found the perfect partner in MILES, whose portfolio will be bookable via the Volkswagen mobility platform. WeShare customers will then benefit from car-sharing services in eight German cities.”

MILES is currently active in Berlin, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Potsdam. Two sites in Brussels and Ghent have been added in the autumn of 2022. In the course of the future integration, it is planned to continue evolving the MILES fleet in line with the electrification of the Volkswagen Group. 

WeShare currently operates around 2,000 all-electric Volkswagen ID.3 and ID.4 vehicles at its Berlin and Hamburg locations – with a total of more than 200,000 users. The present MILES fleet consists of more than 9,000 vehicles, around 70 per cent of which are supplied by the Volkswagen Group.

This is great news for customers using this car-share facility, with many wanting to share zero emissions electric vehicles. It’s also good to hear that MILES will be adding another 10,000 to its fleet to serve this growing demand. This is also a good way of allowing drivers to experience an electric car and all the bonuses they offer, usually converting them after the first drive. 

Oliver Mackprang, MILES Mobility GmbH CEO, said: “The electrification of the fleet is a key pillar of the MILES strategy on the path to sustainable urban transportation. 

“With the acquisition of WeShare and its integration into the MILES ecosystem, we are making a significant step in the right direction. We are pleased to expand our long-standing collaboration with the Volkswagen Group through this mobility partnership.”

With its partners Attestor and Pon Holding, the Volkswagen Group recently acquired the car rental company Europcar. This company will be another key pillar of Volkswagen’s future mobility platform. The goal is to offer customers a broad spectrum of different mobility services ranging from car sharing for a few hours to a car subscription for several months. 

The platform shall also be open to providers from outside the Volkswagen Group, like MILES, to increase economies of scale and customer benefits. In this way, the Group intends to participate in the globally growing markets for mobility services.

Philipp Reth, Head of Volkswagen Group Mobility and formerly WeShare CEO, said: “Having successfully established the only all-electric car-sharing offering in Germany with Volkswagen subsidiary UMI in the last three years, I now welcome this strong partnership with MILES Mobility.”

Ian Osborne
Ian Osborne
Editor-in-Chief at ElectricDrives

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