Anyone catching an Uber in the USA, Canada, or Europe after 2030 is likely to be riding in an electric car.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told CBS News the company plans to only allow drivers to use the platform if they have an electric vehicle come 2030.
Asked if drivers using vehicles with petrol or diesel engines will be allowed to keep driving beyond 2030 in those markets, Mr Khosrowshahi said “if we’re doing our job we’re gonna be all-electric”.
Uber has previously said it wants to be a zero-emissions company by 2040, and has been pushing drivers to electric power around the world with a mix of incentives.
MORE: Uber touts outsized impact on electric vehicle uptake
In Australia, it’s halving service fees for electric vehicle drivers between now and mid-2025, in a bid to encourage its operators to move away from petrol, diesel, and hybrids.
The policy follows a successful 12-month trial in Australia. Uber says the move is equivalent to a $26 million investment in the Australian electric vehicle (EV) market.
According to Uber, more than 378,000 electric trips were completed between July 1, 2021, and July 8, 2022, and the number of monthly EV trips has increased nearly five times around Australia.
A survey conducted by Uber in 2021 said almost 60 per cent of its drivers were looking to go electric by 2026, but only if it could be made more cost-effective.
Uber Australia and New Zealand general manager, Dom Taylor, last year said Uber will “lose money” on every ride with half-price service fees, but believes “the benefits” of swathes of the company’s fleet moving to electric power “will be worth it”.
No longer a startup, Uber has been operating in Australia for 10 years, in which time its ‘driver partners’ have racked up a staggering 700 million rides.
The company said this figure does not include a further 450 million deliveries through UberEats.
All told the company claims to have used 725,000 drivers and ‘delivery partners’ since the first Aussie Uber ride in Sydney in 2012.
