- Uber Green has been rebranded as Uber Electric, as the ride-sharing app moves to make the reduced carbon footprint service available for fully-electric cars only, cementing electric vehicles positions as the greenest form of car transport.
- In many territories, Uber is already phasing out hybrid vehicles from the Green (now Electric) service, with all cars available under the service in the US and New Zealand already required to be fully electric to qualify.
- By 2040, Uber is aiming to become a zero-emission ride-sharing platform globally.
Uber Green rebrands as Uber Electric in new EV push
As part of the Uber Electric rebrand, the platform is also expanding its ‘battery aware matching’ technology. This allows the Uber app to directly communicate with the state of charge on a driver’s EV, ensuring that drivers are only matched with trips that can be completed with the current state of charge of the vehicle. This feature will now be launched across 25 countries across Europe and North America, and include compatibility with major OEMs including Kia, Hyundai, Ford, Nissan, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz.
Alongside the announcement, it also revealed that in the US, it will offer $4,000 grants to drivers to make the switch to a fully-electric vehicle, whether that’s a new or used model. This offer will be available for drivers in New York City, California, Colorado, and Massachusetts.
Previously, the platform has already taken steps to encourage more of its drivers to make the EV switch. This included a £5,000 grant in London for drivers to make the switch, and more recently, partnering with C40 Cities to improve public charging infrastructure across several major metropolitan areas, ensuring that drivers can charge up whilst on the job.
It’s clear that Uber’s drivers are already adopting EVs at a much higher rate than the national average – up to five times faster in fact, in North America and Europe. The rebrand of Uber Green to Uber Electric, along with its battery aware matching proposition and EV grants, will help the ride-sharing platform speed up the EV transition even further, ensuring that its customers can readily access all-electric journeys.
