Smart mobility with WeShare Carsharing - the easy way to become a pro

On average, German cars are left stationary at the side of the road for almost 23 hours a day. So it makes sense to share cars to increase utilisation. New mobility services such as WeShare, a Volkswagen subsidiary, are an important component of the modern mobility offering. And with good reason: carsharing is straightforward and plays an important role in expanding climate-friendly mobility. In 2021, journeys made with the all-electric WeShare fleet alone reduced CO₂ emissions by 6,500 tonnes – which is the equivalent of 3,070 return flights between Berlin and New York.

And demand in Germany is growing. Whereas only 180,000 people were registered here in 2010, the German association CarSharing e. V. announced almost 3.4 million users at the start of 2022 – the majority of customers mainly use location-independent free-floating offerings such as WeShare.

Anyone 21 or older who has held a driving licence valid in the EU for at least a year can register online. Users don’t need keys or a card – the service is app-based: everything from registration to hiring a car is digital and straightforward via smartphone. Journeys are billed by the minute, but it is also possible to hire a car by the day for longer journeys.

And with the right offering, demand increases – even during coronavirus. At the start of the pandemic in 2020, for example, the Berlin business area of WeShare was expanded temporarily, the wait time price was reduced to five cents per minute and vouchers were given to staff at Charité hospital. The employees at the iconic hospital used WeShare around 25,000 times that year, and covered a distance of a quarter of a million kilometres.

However, carsharing providers not only do their bit for sustainable mobility. With a little skill, you can also make it significantly cheaper: for example, renting a WeShare vehicle with the “Hol dir €” sign (earn €) for at least ten minutes gives you credit in your app account. And you can “earn extra cash” by disconnecting an all-electric car from a public charging station – in Berlin you get a credit of two euros, and in Hamburg it is five euros.

If the remaining range is under 80 kilometres when the car is returned, it needs to be taken to the charging station. In Berlin, this is rewarded with a credit of five euros. However, when parking at a charging station, a parking disk must always be used. If there isn’t one in the car, noting the time on a piece of paper is an acceptable alternative.

Those who dislike looking for a parking space and the associated costs in their own car are in good hands with carsharing. WeShare cars can be parked for free almost anywhere. Provided that the car is parked properly in a public car park within the business area.

Getting to your destination as quickly as possible? The ID.3 and ID.4 are perfect for this, since points of interest, such as the airport, are already stored in the navigation system. Incidentally, this can also be accessed via voice control, either by pressing the relevant symbol on the steering wheel or simply saying “Hello ID.” to activate voice control.

Whether you are going swimming, to the bank or to the DIY store: the ID. family gets everyone to their destination. And cheap day packages can be booked when you have big plans. This is even more economical with WeShare+, the flexible pricing model with a subscription. This also reduces the prices per minute significantly.