Uber pledges to go all-electric by 2030 despite not owning its fleet

There's a big hitch in Uber's climate-focused plans.

The ride-sharing app announced Tuesday that its fleet of cars, bikes, and scooters in the U.S., Canada, and the EU would go fully electric by 2030, mirroring Lyft's similar pledge from June. But both Uber and Lyft don't even own the cars they want to make the switch, and drivers who say they're routinely underpaid by the service likely won't feel motivated to do so for them, Wired reports.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi called the company's Tuesday pledge part of its "clear responsibility to reduce our environmental impact," which includes rebuilding communities "for people, not cars," with "more green spaces and fewer parking spaces," he said. Promoting electric vehicles is a big part of that environmental goal, especially since the average Uber ride produces more emissions than just owning a car because a driver has to travel to pick a passenger up.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

But the electric switch also comes at a cost for drivers. Small electric vehicles cost about $10,000 more upfront than gas cars, per Kelly Blue Book. That's a big price to pay for typical drivers, who don't consider Uber a full-time job and are using their personal cars to make ends meet. Uber is planning to address that by spending $160 million each year through 2025 on incentivizing drivers to switch, including by paying EV drivers an extra $1 for each trip they make. Riders can also soon choose to take a "green" ride in a cleaner vehicle for an additional cost.

Still, it's bound to be a hard sell for drivers who've protested Uber and Lyft over their payment structure and their constant refusal to accept drivers as actual employees. Read more at Wired.