Uber drives on a street in Krakow, Poland, on July 4, 2024.
Nurphoto Nurphoto Getty Images
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced on Tuesday that the company is updating its platform with new sustainability features, including “EV preferences” that will allow customers to choose an electric vehicle by default, whenever they ride.
The company previously launched its “Uber Green” service, which has historically included a mix of battery electric vehicles, and hybrid electric models. Now, Uber can offer battery electric vehicles as the only “green” option in more than 40 cities around the world, executives said at Uber’s annual Go Get Zero sustainability conference in London on Tuesday.
Speaking at Uber’s GO-GET Zero event in London, Khosrowshahi said the launch of new features focused on the company’s sustainability comes ahead of the 2024 US election, adding that this is a time when the topic of EVs has become a “political issue.”
However, he notes that the overall trend is moving towards all-electric mobility options.
“The reality is that we will only achieve or zero emissions targets if policymakers and other businesses do the same,” Khosrowshahi said at the event.
“We need more affordable EVs, we need stronger EV mandates, we need incentives for the people who drive the most. We want to make sure that chargers are available in every community, not just the richest. So we all have to move forward,” he said.
For drivers, Uber said it launched an “EV Mentor” program, which connects drivers with questions about electric mobility. The company also debuted an AI chatbot powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, looking to answer questions for drivers on the ride-hail network about what it takes to buy and use a battery electric vehicle instead of a gas-burning vehicle.
Transportation is already responsible for about 25% of carbon emissions from human activity globally, according to estimates by the non-profit International Council on Clean Transportation. Carbon emissions, and other greenhouse gases from human activities, cause long-term changes in temperature and weather, and also cause respiratory diseases by forming smog and air pollution.
Ride-hailing services like Uber can cause traffic congestion and, therefore, pollution, according to an analysis by Suvrat Dhanorkar, Gordon Burtch and others published in the journal Transportation Science. Uber has been working to reduce its environmental footprint and looks to become a “zero-emission platform” by 2040.
On the delivery side of the platform, Uber is adding farmers market products to its Uber Eats offering in two major US markets: New York City and Los Angeles.
Uber said it will also invest nearly $1 million to enable restaurants in Paris that sell food through Uber Eats to switch to more sustainable packaging, such as seaweed-based packaging from NotPLA, bags made from leaves by Releaf, and straws that made from agricultural suAgar. rest of IAmPlasticFree.
According to statistics tracked by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), residents in Paris produce more than 400 kg (880 lb) of waste each year. France has passed legislation to reduce this waste, requiring fast food restaurants to stay away from plastic packaging and disposable utensils.
