Skoda has partnered up with 3 Czech universities to provide car sharing service to students. The service will be called Uniqway and is the first car sharing service in Europe targeted at university students and faculty.

The car sharing operation covers areas near university buildings, residence halls and some parking areas around Prague. There are some car rental operations targeted towards students. In the UK company called Co-wheels Car Club provides pay-as-you-drive car rental service with a membership fee of 25 pounds and a minimum spend of 5 pounds per month.

Skoda plans to roll out the service in the rest of Europe if the trial is successful.

Volvo and Uber present self-driving car

Volvo and Uber have presented a new vehicle capable of self-driving. The two companies formed an engineering partnership in 2016 and since then have developed several prototypes. However, Volvo XC90 is the first production vehicle equipped with Uber’s self-driving system. 

The vehicle has backup systems for steering and braking, should the primary systems fail. This safety system is designed to overtake the vehicle in case of emergencies and halt it.

Volvo won’t be launching the self-driving function of the vehicle just yet. According to both companies, the vehicle will “one day” be able to provide self-driving ride-sharing service. Volvo and Uber aren’t the only companies with plans of self-driving ride-sharing service. Tesla has also announced several weeks ago that its robotaxi service would be ready for launch in 2020.  

Volvo plans to produce future models of autonomous vehicles with the same concept in the early 2020s. The SPA2 architecture used in these vehicles will allow autonomous driving in designated areas, like highways. 

This week Waymo also announced that it will start testing its all-electric I-Pace Jaguar on public streets. The vehicle will be tested around the Waymo headquarters in California.