DPA
Up to 500 electrically powered Moia vehicles are to drive in Hamburg within the next year.
With 100 minibuses the VW subsidiary Moia starts in the Hanseatic city. By the end of the year, around 500 Moia vehicles will be on the road, said managing directors Ole Harms and Robert Henrich on Thursday.
Moia is serious. It’s on April 15 electrical operated Ridesharing in Hamburg in the regular operation. After the three-month test phase with ten cars, around 100 minibuses will travel through the Hanseatic city. “Hamburg is our flagship project and the preparation for all further steps into the future,” said Moia CEO Ole Harms on Thursday.
This increases the VWGroup with a big markup in the market Mobility services in big cities. VW can cost the experiment a “significant three-digit million amount”, so Harms on.
Booking and payment via app
Customers can book regular trips from the start of operation via the Moia app. The starting point and destination are virtual stops that are as close as possible to the current location. A network of more than 10,000 stops should enable pick-up in the current 200-square-kilometer business area within the next 250 meters.
An algorithm combines the trips of multiple customers with each other, so that other people can get on or off during the booked journey. But it was designed so, explains Moia COO Robert Henrich, that the arrival time window specified at the beginning of the trip is respected. This also applies to potentially late arriving other passengers. Waited only briefly.
Also, the price of the ride booked by app is fixed. The price level is, according to the company, between the prices of public transport and a taxi ride. An average trip is five to seven kilometers at six to seven euros. Payment can be made only cashless with the deposited in the app credit card. Tipping and ratings are also made through the app.
Even with the start of operations, the learning phase is not yet completed, says Henrich. Above all, the subjective willingness of customers, for example for detours, can only be experienced over time and accordingly improve the service. The goal is to perfect Moia until the World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (ITS) in 2021. However, there are already certain rules that customers must adhere to: Dogs, kebabs and alcohol can not be taken along.
More cars, more employees, more cities
Dangers are in a six-meter-long and two-meter fifty-wide electric vehicle which was developed on the basis of the transporter Crafter specifically for the Moia service and was produced in small series at VW in Osnabrück. Up to six people have space in the minibuses, the range is 300 kilometers. The vehicle fleet is to be increased over time. In one year, it will be 500 minibuses, which then cover a business area of 300 square kilometers. Binding restriction is the pending approval of the city of Hamburg. Henrich claims that up to 1000 vehicles are required.
The existing vehicles are currently being maintained at two depots in the Hamburg city area and charged if necessary. Up to 235 vehicles can be refueled at the 120 charging stations with green electricity. The 18 high-power chargers supplied by Porsche create an 80 percent charge in half an hour. Again, more will follow.
According to the company 400 permanent employees currently work at Moia, by the end of 2019 it should be 1000 employees, in the first quarter of 2020 then 1600th The goal is to become one of Hamburg’s top 100 employers, it said on Thursday.
Since the middle of last year, there is the Ridesharing service in Hanover. There you have a peak occupancy rate of 60 percent at peak times. The average “sharing rate” was not mentioned by the company. Henrich did not want to comment on potential other cities in which the service will be offered in the future. However, even now “the cities would burn the place”.
with dpa