Uber and Lyft, the two biggest ride-sharing companies in the New York City area have been told by Eric Adams, the city’s mayor, to clean up their fleet by 2030.
Recently, he announced in his State of the City speech that the two companies will be required to have zero-emission fleets by the end of the decade.
This will impact tens of thousands of ridesharing vehicles in the company’s New York fleet and could be as high as 100,000 for-hire vehicles.
The State of the City speech showcased the city’s agenda over the next few years with Mayor Adams’ stance on the future of ridesharing, including:
“Build on efforts to electrify the city vehicle fleet by requiring the 100,000-plus high-volume for-hire vehicles to do the same – requiring them, with the support of Uber and Lyft, to be zero-emissions by 2030, with no new costs for individual drivers;”
Mayor Adams stated in the speech that both companies are on board to make this goal to clean New York City’s transport system a reality:
“Today, we are announcing that Uber and Lyft will be required to have a zero-emissions fleet by 2030. That’s zero emissions for over 100,000 vehicles on our city streets. And it will be achieved with no new costs for individual drivers. We’re pleased that both companies are embracing this shift, and we look forward to working with them to get it done.”
He also encouraged residents with cars to make the switch to EVs:
“We’re also encouraging New Yorkers who drive to make the switch to electric vehicles as well, adding charging stations in all five boroughs.”
Encouraging ride-sharing companies to make the switch to an all-electric fleet is a great initiative as ridesharing vehicles travel longer distances.
In a busy city like New York, many cars today spend extensive periods not moving very far in the city’s congested roads. These vehicles still have tailpipe emissions.
Moving to a zero-emission fleet for ridesharing and encouraging residents to do the same will significantly reduce pollution around the city while allowing residents to have cleaner air.
Car-rental giant Hertz has also extended its partnership with Uber, expanding into Europe after setting up a successful operation in the US. This would include both companies deploying 25,000 EVs in Europe.
“Expanding our partnership with Hertz into Europe will significantly boost our transition to zero emissions, helping drivers reduce running costs and cleaning up urban transport,” Hertz CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi said. “We aim to become a 100% electric platform across Europe by 2030.”
Uber has been offering various incentives to Australian drivers including the announcement of Uber’s fee reductions on the platform EV drivers.
This will naturally increase the fleet of EVs on the platform. Another shift on its way is the rise of affordable EVs in Australia. 2023 will make EVs more accessible for many.
Some new owners may even take advantage of Uber’s fee reduction on the platform by offering ride-sharing trips in major Australian cities. This would showcase the benefits of EVs to many future car buyers.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.