VW’s rideshare arm using Apex.AI software to enable autonomous robotaxis using ID.Buzz EVs
Volkswagen Group’s rideshare mobility company MOIA announced it is using Apex.AI’s software development kit to create and implement its own passenger management system to enable a network of autonomous ID.Buzz EVs.
MOIA is a branch of Volkswagen Group founded in 2016 with a specific focus on rideshare technologies and fleet management. We first covered the company when it began developing an electric van to replace its network of combustion rideshare vehicles, which eventually evolved into plans for robotaxis.
Since 2021, MOIA has been working alongside Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles to develop and implement a pilot project for autonomous rides, beginning in its native Germany before expanding to cities around the world.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is also the Group entity responsible for production of the new and popular ID.Buzz, offering the perfect electric vessel for MOIA to implement and scale its autonomous rideshare network.
To ensure safety and dependability to its riders, MOIA must ensure it has the latest technology in place to manage both its fleets and the functions its autonomous ID.Buzz vehicles are performing. With the help of scalable software developer Apex.AI, MOIA hopes to have an established network of autonomous ID.Buzz EVs expanding internationally within a couple years.
Autonomous ID.Buzz rides are closer than ever in Germany
The two companies shared details of a new collaboration today, in which MOIA will rely on Apex.AI’s cutting-edge software technology to enable the automation of much of its passenger interaction in the autonomous ID.Buzz EVs for the digital age.
While MOIA has its own wealth of experience in software, it says Apex.AI’s software development kit (SDK) will expedite its development process to bring a viable passenger management system to market. MOIA CEO Sascha Meyer spoke:
The acceptance of autonomous ridepooling depends to a large extent on whether people trust such a service in every situation. A high-performance passenger management system is a key prerequisite for using intelligent, self-driving vehicles to establish a mobility service that our passengers can rely on. The development of our passenger management system using Apex.AI’s middleware is the ideal basis for this.
By continuing to work with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, MOIA looks to implement its new proprietary passenger management system in ID.Buzz vehicles to ensure it can monitor and manage a myriad of functions during autonomous rides. This includes the opening and closing of doors, interior auxiliary functions, and monitoring safety systems to ensure passenger comfort. It will need to be developed with the help of Apex.AI first, of course. CEO Jan Becker also shared his thoughts:
We founded Apex.AI with the goal of establishing operating software for the autonomous era. The partnership with MOIA is a win-win: The operating system consisting of Apex.Grace and Apex.Ida is the perfect base for MOIA’s passenger management systems use cases. Both companies are working closely together to develop the product directly in agile software teams. We are excited to enable smart mobility services such as autonomous ridepooling in the future through our cooperation with MOIA.
Looking ahead, MOIA says it will develop its ID.Buzz vehicles with Volkswagen Commercial to launch Europe’s first fully-autonomous mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) network, beginning in Hamburg, Germany sometime in 2025.
Electrek’s Take
Although Volkswagen Group is touting some of the more ambitious goals for electrification from a legacy automaker, several of its marques have hit development speed bumps due to the automaker’s lackluster development progress alongside its software arm Cariad.
Developing a reliable software stack for electric vehicles is a lot easier said than done, and a huge reason why automakers like Tesla have found so much success and longevity at the top of the market. EVs themselves resemble computers more than traditional combustion vehicles, so software is absolutely crucial.
Add autonomous driving to the equation and those developers are going to want to ensure they have the most advanced, safe, and reliable tech they can get their hands on, which is where Apex.AI comes in.
I’ve covered this company several times in the past, and it could go down in history as one of the major unsung catalysts behind the scenes, helping expedite EV transitions and their adjacent technologies like autonomy. The truth is, many of these legacy automakers who have spent decades specializing in mechanical parts just don’t have the software knowledge to compete.
Apex.AI offers an all-in-one stack to help those companies transition hardware-centric reliance over to software defined vehicles – the perfect middle man. Seems like MOIA still has a ways to go before we see autonomous ID.Buzz vans driving around, but I think the company is a lot closer to market now that Apex.AI is involved. We shall see.
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![Day 1 of the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 [Gallery]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/07/54629423281_6315c46dff_k.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Today was the official start of racing at the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025! There was a tremendous energy (and heat) on the ground at NCM Motorsports Park as nearly a dozen teams took to the track. Currently, as of writing, Stanford is ranked #1 in the SOV (Single-Occupant Vehicle) class with 68 registered laps. However, the fastest lap so far belongs to UC Berkeley, which clocked a 4:45 on the 3.15-mile track. That’s an average speed of just under 40 mph on nothing but solar energy. Not bad!
In the MOV (Multi-Occupant Vehicle) class, Polytechnique Montréal is narrowly ahead of Appalachian State by just 4 laps. At last year’s formula sun race, Polytechnique Montréal took first place overall in this class, and the team hopes to repeat that success. It’s still too early for prediction though, and anything can happen between now and the final day of racing on Saturday.
Congrats to the teams that made it on track today. We look forward to seeing even more out there tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some shots from today via the event’s wonderful photographer Cora Kennedy.
Stay tuned for more!
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The numbers are in and they are all bad for Tesla fans – the company sold just 5,000 Cybertruck models in Q4 of 2025, and built some 30% more “other” vehicles than it delivered. It just gets worse and worse, on today’s tension-building episode of Quick Charge!
We’ve also got day 1 coverage of the 2025 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix, reports that the Tesla Optimus program is in chaos after its chief engineer jumps ship, and a look ahead at the fresh new Hyundai IONIQ 2 set to bow early next year, thanks to some battery specs from the Kia EV2.
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Tesla has launched its new Oasis Supercharger, the long-promised EV charging station of the future, with a solar farm and off-grid batteries.
Early in the deployment of the Supercharger network, Tesla promised to add solar arrays and batteries to the Supercharger stations, and CEO Elon Musk even said that most stations would be able to operate off-grid.
While Tesla did add solar and batteries to a few stations, the vast majority of them don’t have their own power system or have only minimal solar canopies.
Back in 2016, I asked Musk about this, and he said that it would now happen as Tesla had the “pieces now in place” with Supercharger V3, Powerpack V2, and SolarCity:
All of these pieces have been in place for years, and Tesla has now discontinued the Powerpack in favor of the Megapack. The Supercharger network is also transitioning to V4 stations.
Yet, solar and battery deployment haven’t accelerated much in the decade since Musk made that comment, but it is finally happening.
Last year, Tesla announced a new project called ‘Oasis’, which consists of a new model Supercharger station with a solar farm and battery storage enabling off-grid operations in Lost Hills, California.
Tesla has now unveiled the project and turned on most of the Supercharger stalls:
The project consists of 168 chargers, with half of them currently operational, making it one of the largest Supercharger stations in the world. However, that’s not even the most notable aspect of it.
The station is equipped with 11 MW of ground-mounted solar panels and canopies, spanning 30 acres of land, and 10 Tesla Megapacks with a total energy storage capacity of 39 MWh.
It can be operated off-grid, which is the case right now, according to Tesla.
With off-grid operations, Tesla was about to bring 84 stalls online just in time for the Fourth of July travel weekend. The rest of the stalls and a lounge are going to open later this year.
Electrek’s Take
This is awesome. A bit late, but awesome. This is what charging stations should be like: fully powered by renewable energy.
Unfortunately, it will be much harder to open those stations in the future due to legislation that Trump and the Republican Party have just passed, which removes incentives for solar and energy storage, adds taxes on them, and removes incentives to build batteries – all things that have helped Tesla considerably over the last few years.
The US is likely going to have a few tough years for EV adoption and renewable energy deployment.
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