Uber promises 100% electric vehicles by 2040, commits $800 million to help drivers switch

By Tina Bellon

(Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc on Tuesday said every vehicle on its global ride-hailing platform will be electric by 2040, and it vowed to contribute $800 million through 2025 to help drivers switch to battery-powered vehicles, including discounts for vehicles bought or leased from partner automakers.

Uber, which as of early February said it had 5 million drivers worldwide, said it formed partnerships with General Motors and the Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi alliance.

In addition to the vehicle discounts, Uber said the $800 million includes discounts for charging and a fare surcharge for electric and hybrid vehicles, the cost of which would be partially offset by an additional small fee charged to customers who request a “green trip.”

Uber said that vehicles on its rides platform in the United States, Canada and Europe will be zero-emission by 2030, taking advantage of the regulatory support and advanced infrastructure in those regions.

The deals with GM and the Renault alliance focus on the U.S., Canada and Europe. Uber said it was discussing partnerships with other automakers.

Uber’s plan follows years of criticism by environmental groups and city officials over the pollution and congestion caused by ride-hail vehicles and calls for fleet electrification.

Lyft Inc, Uber’s smaller U.S. rival, in June promised to switch to 100% electric vehicles by 2030, but said it would not provide direct financial support to drivers.

Uber said its goal is to reduce the overall cost of ownership for electric vehicles, which are currently more expensive than gasoline cars.

The company also released data on its emission footprint and said it would publish reports going forward.

Before the pandemic, electric cars accounted for only 0.15% of all U.S. and Canadian Uber trip miles – roughly in line with average U.S. electric car ownership. At around 12%, the share of plug-in hybrid and hybrid cars was roughly five times as high as the U.S. average.

Ride-hail trips overall account for less than 0.6% of transportation-sector emissions, according to U.S. data, but the total number of on-demand vehicles has significantly increased since Uber’s launch nearly a decade ago, with 7 billion trips last year, according to Uber’s February investor presentation.

Uber said its U.S. and Canadian trips with a passenger produce 41% more carbon dioxide per mile than an average private car once miles spent cruising between passengers are included.

Uber’s plans could be a boon to the auto industry. Stricter environmental regulation, particularly in Europe, is forcing automakers to invest billions to overhaul their operations while consumer demand for electric vehicles remains subdued. Uber is also working with BP, EVgo and other global charging providers to provide discounts and expand the location of charging stations for ride-hail drivers – generally considered a main hurdle to wider EV adoption. Beginning on Tuesday, all U.S. and Canadian Uber drivers in a fully battery-powered electric vehicle will receive $1 extra per trip, and an additional 50 cents in major U.S. cities if passengers choose to pay extra when booking a “green trip.”

(Reporting by Tina Bellon in New York; Editing by Peter Henderson and Leslie Adler)

U.S. expands air bag defect probe to 12.3 million vehicles

FILE PHOTO: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) headquarters are seen in Turin, Italy, July 21, 2018. REUTERS/Massimo Pinca

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Tuesday it is expanding a probe into potentially defective airbags to 12.3 million vehicles and upgrading it to an engineering analysis, a step required before it can seek to compel recalls.

The agency, known as NHTSA, said the airbags were installed in some vehicles from model years 2010 through 2019 sold by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Honda Motor Co, Hyundai Motor Co, Kia Motors Corp, Mitsubishi and Toyota Motor Corp.

They were equipped with an airbag control unit initially produced by TRW Automotive Holdings Corp, which is now owned by ZF Friedrichshafen. The agency said they could fail during a crash.

NHTSA first opened a probe in 2018 of about 400,000 vehicles and said Tuesday it has reports of two crashes and two injuries related to the defect along with one death in a Toyota vehicle.

ZF spokesman John Wilkerson said the company “is committed to motor vehicle safety and is working cooperatively with NHTSA and our customers in the investigation.”

Toyota said it is “cooperating with NHTSA’s engineering analysis. Toyota is also continuing its investigation into this issue and will take any appropriate action.”

At issue is whether the airbag control units may suffer electrical overstress due to harmful signals resulting from a crash, causing them to stop working during such an event. In opening its probe, NHTSA said: “the probability of this occurring appears to be low.”

NHTSA noted on Tuesday that there have recently been two substantial frontal crashes that may be tied to the issue, including the fatal Toyota crash. The agency is looking at whether an “unreasonable risk exists that requires further field action.”

Hyundai, Kia and Fiat Chrysler have previously issued recalls for more than 2.5 million vehicles with the airbag control units in question that might not deploy in crashes.

When it recalled nearly 2 million vehicles for airbag nondeployments with the issue in 2016, Fiat Chrysler said it had reports of three deaths and five injuries that might be related to the defect.

In a statement on Tuesday, Fiat Chrysler said that “when we became aware of this issue in 2016, we responded accordingly. However, we will cooperate fully with NHTSA’s investigation.”

Hyundai and Kia recalled more than 650,000 vehicles for airbag nondeployment concerns in 2018.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao)