08 September 2020
Uber is immediately expanding its "Green" program to new cities and setting a longer-term target of having fully electric cars account for 100% of rides on its platform in the U.S., Canadian and European cities by 2030.
Why it matters: Those plans — and other new climate pledges Uber unveiled Tuesday — come as ride-hailing firms face growing scrutiny over their carbon emissions amid evidence they're cannibalizing public transit and increasing congestion.
It follows Lyft's vow in June to have 100% of the rides in its platform come from zero-emissions vehicles by 2030.
How it works: Uber this morning announced moves, including...
- Launching Uber Green program — which provides rides in EVs and hybrids — today in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver and a bunch other cities, with plans to have the program in over 30 cities by year's end. It includes new incentives for drivers to use EVs.
- An $800 million commitment aimed at helping "hundreds of thousands" of Uber drivers worldwide overcome cost barriers to transitioning to EVs over the next 5 years. They're offering incentives of up to $1.50 per ride, and rolling out new partnerships with automakers to defray costs.
- New and wider steps to integrate their ride-hailing with micromobility and public transit, including a new feature that "integrates UberX and public transportation travel routes into one complete route."
The big picture: Uber's longer-term goal is that by 2040, 100% of worldwide trips on their platform are in EVs, public transit or micromobility.
- "It’s our responsibility as the largest mobility platform in the world to more aggressively tackle the challenge of climate change," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote as part of a new report on the company's climate efforts.
Yes, but: Uber acknowledges that achieving their electrification goals rests on factors that they don't control.
- “We can’t do this alone,” Khosrowshahi told reporters on a call this morning, citing the need for “unprecedented” collaboration.
It also require steps by policymakers and other industry participants to spur EV and charging infrastructure deployment.
- Their sustainability pledges include new partnerships with automakers like GM and Renault to help make EVs more affordable to drivers.
- Another part of their plans is working with the nonprofit World Resources Institute and other groups on a "global road map" to enable more EV adoption.
Go deeper:
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.