Uber to Add Thousands of Self-Driving Electric VW Microbuses to Fleet

• Volkswagen and Uber declared they would join forces to introduce thousands of self-driving vehicles. ID.Buzz Electric delivery vans to the ride-sharing company's vehicle collection.
• The two companies intend to introduce self-driving delivery vehicles into multiple U.S. markets within the coming ten years, beginning with Los Angeles.
• Tests will start in Los Angeles before the end of this year, with intentions to launch trips via Uber's ride-sharing service in 2026.

In recent months, people living in Atlanta and Austin might have observed something unusual when they requested an Uber ride: a self-driving Waymo car arrived instead of the usual Uber vehicle. This happened after Uber and Waymo signed an agreement last autumn allowing Uber to oversee and allocate a group ofWaymo’s autonomous Jaguar I-Pace models.

Currently, Uber aims to broaden its autonomous vehicle operations further. They have recently inked an agreement with Volkswagen to introduce numerous driverless VW ID.Buzz vans across various locations within the coming decade. Similar to how Waymo vehicles operate in Atlanta and Austin, these electric minibusses will also be accessible through the Uber application.

Uber and VW plan to initiate their driverless revolution in Los Angeles with electric vans before gradually expanding this service to several undisclosed American cities within the coming ten years. The autonomous technology for these vans will be managed by MOIA, which is a mobility-focused offshoot of Volkswagen.

Driverless vehicle tests are set to commence later this year. Initially, human personnel will operate within the vehicles during testing and early deployment phases to fine-tune the tech and guarantee safety measures. Both Volkswagen and Uber confirm that these autonomous cars will advance through each test phase solely following necessary regulatory clearances. The trials aim to conclude promptly enough so that Uber can incorporate the ID.Buzzes into their Los Angeles operations by 2026.

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