Uber users can now choose to only ride in electric cars
Ride-hailing service Uber has announced that its users can now choose only to ride in electric vehicles.
The firm has supported the roll-out of EVs on its fleet since 2020 and says it now has enough vehicles to offer EV-only choice to customers in more than 40 cities around the world. That includes London, where 30% of all Uber rides are already in zero emissions vehicles.
The move was announced as part of the company’s annual green summit, held at London’s Science Museum. Making the announcement, chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi revealed that Uber’s all-electric fleet had grown from around 10,000 cars in 2020 to more than 182,000 this year.
Uber says that its drivers are adopting EVs five times faster than the average customer and Khosrowshahi said that despite recent negativity around electric vehicles and slowdown in some markets, there was strong interest among its drivers and customers.
He commented: “Traditional car makers are slashing prices and pushing back many of their EV goals, but the number of EV sales continues to rise, and at Uber, EVs are really taking off.
“Here at Uber we see people across the political spectrum everywhere we operate choosing EVs because they’re just plain better.”
The new option expands the previous Uber Green service, which allows riders to set hybrid and electric cars as their preferred lifts, and Uber says will cost the same as its Uber X service. It also acknowledges that choosing an EV could lead to a longer wait, so customers can choose to prioritise EVs only when their estimated arrival is similar to a ICE Uber X.
Alongside the new option, Uber announced its ‘EV Pop-Ups’, which will let riders hail a number of innovative premium EVs. These include the Lotus Eletre in London and the Rivian R1 in Los Angeles, Miami and Dallas.
While he was bullish about EVs’ growth, Khosrowshahi also called for legislators to help power the EV transition. He told attendees: “We will only meet our zero emissions goals if policymakers and other business do their part as well. We need more affordable EVs, we need stronger EV mandates, we need incentives for those who are driving the most and we need to make sure that chargers are available in every community, not just the wealthiest.
Earlier this year Uber announced a new partnership with BYD that will see the Chinese car maker supply up to 100,000 electric models to Uber drivers. And at the summit it said that it would work with BYD and Octopus Energy to offer UK drivers 1,000 free home chargers and discounts on the Electroverse public charging network.
