Electric solutions: how green cars are driving a sustainable future
In London, ride-share giant Uber unveiled new strategies to make its offerings green
AT THE START of a sweltering spring day, as I raised a hand to signal to my Uber driver that I was waiting by the roadside, I felt a prickling. It wasn’t the sweat beading on my neck at 10 a.m., though that would have been an easy mistake. No: it was guilt. On my way to a meeting, unwilling to arrive hot and flustered via public transport, was I choosing the most environmentally friendly option? The prickling was accompanied by a knowing pang of the cyclical injustice of it all: my choice was the result of an unseasonably warm day, which was, in turn, no doubt thanks to climate change. It’s a vicious cycle — and one that’s hard to break.
Now, however, Uber — the world’s biggest ride-sharing platform that has spawned a slew of lookalikes — has a plan to make driving a much more sustainable option.
This week, at the company’s Go Get Zero conference in London, the San Francisco-based company announced a range of initiatives aimed at reducing its impact on the environment — with a view to bring its ride-sharing emissions to a total of zero, by transitioning its platform to entirely electric vehicles by 2040. According to the company, drivers are adopting EVs five times faster than the average motorist in the US, Canada and Europe. And Australia is next! Because, haven’t you heard? EVs are a whole lot of fun.
This green transition is picking up pace all over the world — though in some places faster than others. In London, one third of miles travelled in London take place in an EV. In Australia, the figure is closer to 5 per cent. But Uber has unveiled a few new mechanisms to encourage both riders and drivers to get on board (literally).
One very of-the-moment solution? An AI assistant on the driver’s version of the app, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4O, which will act as a way for drivers to learn about which EV makes sense for them, given their location, driving regularity and budget. Another is a new mentorship program, which will connect experienced EV drivers with EV-curious drivers, to assuage their concerns, fears and help them out with practical, experience-based advice.
“In a lot of places, it’s really, really hard for drivers to try out an EV . . . but we’re trying to make it really easy,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi at the event. “Most of the time, when people try out an EV, they absolutely love it.” These initiatives will join the mechanisms already in place that encourage green vehicles on the platform, like discounts for Uber drivers to purchase EVs, and higher earning potential on the platform when driving an EV.
On the rider’s side, there are a few more things on offer: you can now track in real time how much carbon you’re preventing from being released into the atmosphere with Uber’s tools, whether that’s through choosing Uber Green (which will guarantee you a ride in an EV), or a Uber bike, bus or shuttle in cities where that’s an option. What’s more, a new function will allow you to register a permanent preference for taking an Uber Green — and you’ll be automatically connected with an EV, zero-emissions vehicle when that ride is as close or just a little further away than a regular UberX.
“Uber can be a catalyst that gets the whole thing unstuck. We can make it easy for our customers to get familiar with EVs and for our drivers to try one . . . If we can electrify Uber, we really can electrify the world,” noted Rebecca Tinucci, Uber’s head of global sustainability.
While there are undoubtedly better, more environmentally friendly transport options at the moment, we can’t pretend there aren’t times that hailing an Uber is an incredibly convenient option. Whether that’s on a hot day faced with the prospect of unventilated public transport, or on the way home from the pub . . . if it’s safe, quick, similarly priced, and now, with zero negative environmental impact? We’re onboard.
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