Thousands of Volkswagen’s adorable ID Buzz electric van, paired with Volkswagen autonomous mobility spinoff MOIA’s tech, will lay the foundation for Uber‘s new autonomous driving taxi service when it launches commercially in Los Angeles late 2026. According to a statement released by the German automaker to Reuters, testing for the program will begin later this year. As with all early autonomous projects, the new Uber buses will have a person onboard for the testing and launch phase to “help refine the technology and ensure safety.” The partnership between the German auto giant and the ride share app, announced on Thursday, is set to run for the next decade branded as ID Buzz AD. Neither party has disclosed the financial terms of the agreement.
For its part Volkswagen fell behind Toyota as the world’s largest automaker in 2024. Presumably the hope with this project is to get more butts in VW seats to experience the Buzz first hand and generate top-of-mind awareness to increase North American sales, while also shifting a few thousand of its pricey vans into the Uber fleet. Uber has struggled for profitability in the past, but 2023 and 2024 have been quite successful for the rideshare app innovator, reports Financial Times. One presumes the company is hoping to further its profitability by relying on pricey and unproven computers to drive passengers around instead of having to pay pesky human drivers a salary. The big tech playbook is in full swing, separating laborers from profits. Who will pay for rideshares when big tech shifts all the jobs to robots and nobody can afford anything anymore?
The state of autonomous rideshare
“Volkswagen is not just a car manufacturer—we are shaping the future of mobility, and our collaboration with Uber accelerates that vision,” Christian Senger, CEO of Volkswagen Autonomous Mobility, said in a statement.
Kjell Gruner, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America offered that the partnership will “unleash the potential of autonomous mobility” and push the ID Buzz to “a growing number of riders in the years to come.”
MOIA’s primary autonomous competitor, Waymo, already has 700 driverless rideshare robots in service across the U.S. and despite the company claiming over 100,000 rides per week has yet to find anything approaching profitability, says Futurism. Amazon-backed Zoox is poised to launch commercially in Las Vegas later this year, according to CNBC. Because of the flooded market, billions burned, and lack of proven track to profitability, General Motors pulled the plug on its Cruise autonomy unit late last year. Tesla said in this week’s earnings call that it will be pushing robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas with a 10-20 car fleet “soon” but we know Tesla’s over-promise-and-under-deliver song and dance all too well at this point to believe any of it.
