Uber has announced that ‘Uber Green’ is now live in Australia, an Uber ride type that requests an electric vehicle or hybrid to take you from A to B.
Uber’s been doing a lot of eco-friendly stuff in Australia over recent years. Last year, Uber announced that it was extending its plan to incentivise the use of electric vehicles by drivers, by offering them a cut to the service fee by 50 per cent. The company also partnered with car leasing company Splend in Australia to put 500 Polestar 2 Ubers on the road.
Now, as announced at Uber’s ‘Go/Get Zero’ event, drivers with electric vehicles or hybrids can start to operate on the ‘Uber Green’ ride type.
What’s interesting about this ride type is that, unlike others like UberXL, Uber Business Comfort, or Uber Premier, Uber Green costs just as much as a normal UberX ride.
Additionally, electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle drivers will also be able to access discounts at BP Pulse recharging stations, through an agreement between Uber and BP. Drivers will be able to save between five and eight cents per kWh when using a BP Pulse charger, bringing the price down to at least $0.48 per kWh (down from $0.55 per kWh at BP Pulse chargers).
“Charging infrastructure and the operational costs of driving an EV is greatly improving in Australia, but we want to do all we can to incentivise our driver and delivery partners to use EVs when earning on our platform,” Uber ANZ general manager Dom Taylor said.
“This partnership is a first for rideshare in Australia, and we’re thrilled to build on our partnership with BP that has brought significant savings to drivers over the past year. This is the power of the Uber platform – creating value for our drivers while accelerating our road to zero emissions.”
By 2030, Uber expects its drivers in the U.S. to switch entirely to EVs. The company is also interested in developing cheaper EVs made just for ride-sharing. Additionally, in the U.S., Uber operates a ‘Comfort Electric’ ride option, which filters out hybrids and offers electric vehicles only.
The rideshare platform claims that, in the first quarter of 2023, 1,250 electric vehicles were being used in Australian operation, with more than 567,000 trips taken in those electric vehicles during the period. You’re still more likely to hop in a petrol-powered Uber in Australia, but EV use is on the rise.
Uber is planning on zero-emission deliveries by 2040, and sustainable packaging only for restaurant orders via UberEats by 2030.