Londoners to fund Uber’s £200m plan for cars to go fully electric by 2025
All Uber cars driving in London will be fully electric by 2025 under the firm's new clean air plan for the capital, funded by its citizens through a fares hike.
From early next year, a so-called clean air fee will be added to every Uber ride at 15p per mile, which will then be funnelled into a savings account for the driver to be put towards the cost of upgrading to a fully electric vehicle.
Uber estimates that it will raise over £200m through this initiative over the next few years, and anticipates that half of its 40,000 London drivers will have upgraded by the end of 2021.
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Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi told reporters the firm is in talks with several electric vehicle manufacturers about how they might meet the rising demand for vehicles from London drivers in the future, in a bid to keep costs of vehicles from rising.
Uber is additionally working with several third-party manufacturers of charging points across London, in order to ensure drivers will be able to run a smooth service as they make the transition.
He added that this is the first of many initiatives the firm will be undertaking over the next few years as it seeks to transform its image from a ride-hailing business into an on-demand mobility service, which will encompass managing fleets of cars, bikes, trucks and scooters for industries such as food delivery and freight. These will also eventually be autonomous.
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Though there are no immediate plans to release electric bikes into London, Khosrowshahi said when the timing is right, the firm will "expand in the right way in accordance with EU regulations".
The Uber chief was originally set to be speaking at an investment conference in Saudi Arabia this week, but pulled out due to ongoing reports of alleged state involvement in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Uber has received billions in funding from Saudi Arabia, both directly and via Softbank's Vision Fund of which the state is the largest backer.
Vision Fund head Rajeev Misra sits on Uber's board, and Khosrowshahi today confirmed that this may be under review in the lead-up to its initial public offering next year, depending on the outcome of those investigations.
"Having pulled out of the FII conference, we're now in a position to wait and understand exactly what happened," he said. "Based on those answers, we will make a determination as to our governance going forward and what our investment make-up looks like."