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VW makes move into mobility industry, acquires Split rideshare company
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VW has acquired small US/Finish rideshare company Split for an undisclosed amount as it takes aim at the ridesharing industry. Split had raised $12.5M from investors to date but suspended transportation operations last October. The central focus of the acquisition lies in Split’s software development team, which is based in Finland. Before shutting down its rideshare operations last fall, Split had active service in both the Washington D.C. area and Helsinki, Finland.
Split has announced that it will be working with VW’s new Berlin-based mobility division, MOIA, while its software development team will remain in Finland. “From now on, Finland will be our expert hub and development location for the pooling algorithms behind MOIA’s shuttle-on-demand.” MOIA’s CEO said in a press release.
Ole Harms, CEO of MOIA (left) and Matthias Müller, CEO of VW Group (right)
The Finnish development team began its work on ridesharing as Ajelo in 2010 before being acquired by Split in 2014. While Split never expanded beyond its first two cities, it showed extraordinary success with customer satisfaction and driver retention. Split announced in September 2016 that “customer satisfaction rate of over 98%, and a driver retention rate of over 90%” which the company attributes to organic growth within the region. Ultimately, fierce competition from capital-heavy rivals Lyft and Uber – companies that can afford to operate at a negative profit margin – left the company unable to complete meaningfully.
“MOIA will help us gain a deeper understanding of new forms of mobility and how to make them even more attractive in future,” – Volkswagen Group CEO, Matthias Müller
Almost every major automaker is scrambling to come up with rideshare solutions as consumers become increasingly interested in using more mobility products. General Motors made a $500M investment into Lyft last year, BMW and Daimler merged their carshare businesses, and Ford unveiled a new rideshare division last fall. This is one of the first moves for VW as they explore opportunities in the rideshare/carshare space.
Split’s ride share app in action
Split’s technology has been focused on open map data and advanced algorithms, rather than market expansion and domination of the market. The new acquisition for VW will help bring their service to market faster, “acquiring a usable platform that will noticeably reduce the development time for our MOIA software,” Robert Henrich, MOIA’s COO, said in a statement.
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Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
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Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
Tesla plans to supply over 100 Megapack units to support a large stationary storage project in Japan, making it one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities.
Tesla’s Megapack grid-scale batteries have been selected to back an energy storage project in Japan, coming as the latest of the company’s continued deployment of the hardware.
As detailed in a report from Nikkei this week, Tesla plans to supply 142 Megapack units to support a 548 MWh storage project in Japan, set to become one of the country’s largest energy storage facilities. The project is being overseen by financial firm Orix, and it will be located at a facility Maibara in central Japan’s Shiga prefecture, and it aims to come online in early 2027.
The deal is just the latest of several Megapack deployments over the past few years, as the company continues to ramp production of the units. Tesla currently produces the Megapack at a facility in Lathrop, California, though the company also recently completed construction on its second so-called “Megafactory” in Shanghai China and is expected to begin production in the coming weeks.
READ MORE ON TESLA MEGAPACKS: Tesla Megapacks help power battery supplier Panasonic’s Kyoto test site
Tesla’s production of the Megapack has been ramping up at the Lathrop facility since initially opening in 2022, and both this site and the Shanghai Megafactory are aiming to eventually reach a volume production of 10,000 Megapack units per year. The company surpassed its 10,000th Megapack unit produced at Lathrop in November.
During Tesla’s Q4 earnings call last week, CEO Elon Musk also said that the company is looking to construct a third Megafactory, though he did not disclose where.
Last year, Tesla Energy also had record deployments of its Megapack and Powerwall home batteries with a total of 31.4 GWh of energy products deployed for a 114-percent increase from 2023.
Other recently deployed or announced Megapack projects include a massive 600 MW/1,600 MWh facility in Melbourne, a 75 MW/300 MWh energy storage site in Belgium, and a 228 MW/912 MWh storage project in Chile, along with many others still.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla highlights the Megapack site replacing Hawaii’s last coal plant
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Elon Musk responds to Ontario canceling $100M Starlink deal amid tariff drama
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, opens new tab on February 3 that he was “ripping up” his province’s CA$100 million agreement with Starlink in response to the U.S. imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Elon Musk company SpaceX is set to lose a $100 million deal with the Canadian province of Ontario following a response to the Trump administration’s decision to apply 25 percent tariffs to the country.
Starlink, a satellite-based internet service launched by the Musk entity SpaceX, will lose a $100 million deal it had with Ontario, Premier Doug Ford announced today.
Starting today and until U.S. tariffs are removed, Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts.
Every year, the Ontario government and its agencies spend $30 billion on procurement, alongside our $200 billion plan to build Ontario. U.S.-based businesses will…
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) February 3, 2025
Ford said on X today that Ontario is banning American companies from provincial contracts:
“We’ll be ripping up the province’s contract with Starlink. Ontario won’t do business with people hellbent on destroying our economy. Canada didn’t start this fight with the U.S., but you better believe we’re ready to win it.”
It is a blow to the citizens of the province more than anything, as the Starlink internet constellation has provided people in rural areas across the globe stable and reliable access for several years.
Musk responded in simple terms, stating, “Oh well.”
Oh well https://t.co/1jpMu55T6s
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2025
It seems Musk is less than enthused about the fact that Starlink is being eliminated from the province, but it does not seem like all that big of a blow either.
As previously mentioned, this impacts citizens more than Starlink itself, which has established itself as a main player in reliable internet access. Starlink has signed several contracts with various airlines and maritime companies.
It is also expanding to new territories across the globe on an almost daily basis.
With Mexico already working to avoid the tariff situation with the United States, it will be interesting to see if Canada does the same.
The two have shared a pleasant relationship, but President Trump is putting his foot down in terms of what comes across the border, which could impact Americans in the short term.
Armored Tesla Cybertruck “War Machine” debuts at Defense Expo 2025
Tesla Megapacks chosen for 548 MWh energy storage project in Japan
