Toronto, Ontario — July 8, 2019 — The popularity in AV and EV vehicles is on this rise. From new ride-sharing programs being launched to rebates having to be cut because of the surge of electric vehicles on the road, Collision Repair has covered all things autonomous and electric this week.
Make Way for Waymo
Waymo has just announced that Lyft riders can now get a ride in an autonomous vehicle.
Although the rides are restricted to just a small part outside of Phoenix Arizona, the autonomous vehicles will be available to any curious customer who wants to take a ride in a driverless car by being offered the option to have a normal ride or a Waymo ride on the Lyft app on their phone.
This new partnership is just one prime example of Waymo attempting to branch out to other companies. Just last week, Waymo partnered with Nissan and Renault to build self-driving cars across the world.
A Bite of the AV Apple
Waymo isn’t the only company making strides in the AV industry. Apple just announced that they’re purchased a self-driving car startup.
The start-up company is titled Drive.ai, and it’s been reported that Apple paid more than $77 million for the company. Although it seems like big news that this tech-progressive incorporation is taking on a new project, and it’s not the first time Apple’s taken a shot at AV’s.
Project Titan was an electric and autonomous vehicle project that launched in 2018 but shortly ended in January of 2019.
According to Drive.ai, the company “offers turnkey mobility solutions with self-driving cars for partners and communities, solving for their unique and everyday transportation needs.”
It’s been predicted that the company won’t launch any vehicles until 2023.
V Love to Share
Volkswagen just launched a car-sharing service for eco-friendly, EV drivers.
We-Share will be launching in Prague before making its way over to Berlin and other big cities in Europe.
The electric cars will be available in a “free-floating” arrangement. This means the vehicle will be free to pick up and park wherever available. This initiative was launched to inspire and add more electric vehicles onto open roads.
“We want to motivate young, urban users to engage with e-mobility,” stated Jürgen Stackmann, Volkswagen Brand Board Member for Sales. “The people of Berlin will be the first to enjoy the electrifying experience of our ’We Share’ car sharing offering.”
EV’s Rise, Rebates Sink
The BC government is reducing EV rebate programs in order to save money for the second half of the year.
Announced earlier this week, British Columbia’s government announced that electric vehicle owners will be receiving fewer rebates than they expected due to the surge of B.C. citizens purchasing electric vehicles.
Originally $5000, EV drivers will now only receive $3000, but B.C. energy minister says it’s not all bad news.
“We have a bit of a good problem and that is the [EV rebates] program is much more popular than we thought,” said Mungall.
