Details about the partnership were announced on Friday. Their overall goal? to create a multi-faceted app that can handle all transportation needs. Ranging from ride-hailing to public transport, the app has five major focuses.
- Reach Now: Shows the user all of the available options to get where you want to go, including ride-hailing, public transport, and bike rentals.
- Free Now: A ride-hail service that includes taxis, private chauffeurs, and rides on electric scooters.
- Share Now: Allows users to locate a nearby rental vehicle that they can book and unlock from the smartphone app.
- Charge Now: Helps users locate an electric vehicle charge booth and manage/pay for charging.
- Park Now: Located ideal parking spots, let the user reserve, pay, and manage their parking options, including parking garages.
“We have a clear vision: these five services will merge ever more closely to form a single mobility service portfolio with an all-electric, self-driving fleet of vehicles that charge and park autonomously and interconnect with the other modes of transport.”
The program isn't built on dreams and rainbows, either. The two auto giants are investing a total of $1.1 billion into the project/company, producing around 1,000 new jobs worldwide. They're also open to the idea of coordinating with other established providers and startups, according to Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche.
The operating company remains without a name. There's no word as to when it will launch, either. So for now, you'll have to stick to Daimler's Car2Go and BMW's DriveNow car-sharing programs.
I don't know if this is enough to compete with existing hailing services like Uber, Lyft, and Waymo. Time will tell.