US-based ride-hailing platform Uber has announced multiple partnerships to electrify its services in India. Starting next month, the company will rollout Uber Green services in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.
The new service allows passengers to request an all-electric, zero tailpipe emission vehicle rather than a regular fossil-fuelled car, bringing to India an on-demand EV experience with just a few taps on the app. At present, Uber Green is operational in more than 100 cities in 15 countries around the world.
Currently, the EV-as-a-cab segment in India is available in certain cities with each seeing a different leader. BluSmart Mobility, Evera, EEETaxi, Capital EV, GoGreen Cabs, Cab-E Cars and Snap E cabs are some of the names currently operating in different and limited geographies in India.
In addition, Uber has announced a series of new partnerships in India. The ride-hailing platform has added fleet partners such as Lithium Urban Technologies, Everest Fleet, Moove to deploy 25,000 electric vehicles across Uber’s top 7 cities in India.
In the two-wheeler space, it has joined hands with Zypp Electric to deploy 10,000 e-2-wheelers by 2024 under Uber Moto category. At present, more than 1,000 Zypp electric two-wheelers are already operating on Uber Moto in Delhi.
For financing, Uber has inked an MoU with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to get loans of up to Rs 1,000 crore for supporting the purchase of electric and CNG vehicles.
The company is also bringing its global partnership with bp pulse to India that will enable Uber drivers to access the charging network. With GMR Green energy, Uber will also set-up charging facilities in the country.
Andrew Macdonald, Senior VP, Mobility and Business Operations at Uber, said, “India’s huge scale and electrification momentum makes the country a priority for Uber as we seek to meet our commitment to electrify every ride on our platform by 2040.”
Prabhjeet Singh, President, Uber India and South Asia said, “Going all-electric is a challenge that’s bigger than Uber. We can’t do it alone. To be successful, the economic burden of making the transition to EVs should not fall on drivers. With these industry-leading partnerships, we are matching commitment with action to help drivers go electric faster and supercharge sustainable transition in India’s ride-sharing industry.”
Uber has committed to become a zero-emissions mobility platform by 2030 in Europe and North America, and globally by 2040. The company says it has more than tripled the number of electric vehicles on the platform and connected 31 million unique riders with a ride in an electric vehicle in 2022. The Science Based Targets Initiative has also approved Uber’s near and long-term science-based emissions reduction targets, making us one of the first 30 US-based companies to have such targets approved.
