Rideshare company Lyft offers electric car “Green Mode” option

Uber competitor Lyft has introduced a new “Green Mode” options for users of its rideshare network that will allow passengers to choose to ride in an electric car.

The new mode adds to the rideshare’s company commitment to zero emissions which it announced in September 2018 via its blog.

All Lyft rides are already carbon neutral thanks to an offset program the company is running as part of the “Green Cities Initiative” commitment.

Now, Lyft is also committing to add thousands of electric vehicles to its rideshare platform to offer zero emissions transport options for its passengers.

The rideshare company announced the new option via their blog last week and says all its EVs will be be recharged with power from renewable sources.

For Lyft drivers who don’t own an EV, Lyft is also offering a rental program through its Express Drive program.

Because of the superior efficiency of EVs over ICE vehicles, Lyft believes that the savings will be significant for lits drivers.

“Combining lower fuel costs with affordable rental rates, we anticipate that individual drivers can save hundreds of dollars per month, and thousands of dollars per year, on fuel costs alone,” the company states on its blog.

The Green Mode program will first be introduced in Seattle and Atlanta, and Lyft says it plans to expand into other regions in the future.

Lyft does not yet have any plans to expand into Australia, however with Tesla making plans to introduce its own car sharing service, and the Model 3 set to arrive here in nid-2019, Uber may have a competitor in owners of Tesla EVs.

Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk said that the Q3 2018 earnings call that the EV maker would introduce a system that allows Tesla owners to gain income through a carshare scheme by the end of 2019.

“I think that’s a pretty sensible way to go,” Musk said.

Update: Lyft has informed The Driven that, “To clarify, the electricity will come from the local grid – it may not always be renewable. But where direct renewable energy supply is not yet available, we have committed to purchase renewable energy credits (RECs) through our partner 3Degrees. These RECs are sourced to meet leading environmental standards to ensure that our, and our electric vehicle drivers’, net electricity usage is 100% renewable going forward.”