Uber Pledges to Go All-Electric, but It Doesn't Own the Cars
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for guy_:
Uber Pledges to Go All-Electric, but It Doesn't Own the Cars:
Uber on Tuesday pledged to convert its fleet in US, Canadian, and European cities to fully electric by 2030. By the end of the following decade, Uber says, all of its rides will be aboard electric vehicles, either cars, bikes, or scooters. The pledge follows a similar one from rival Lyft, which said in June that all of its rides would be in electric vehicles by 2030.
"Uber has a clear responsibility to reduce our environmental impact," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told reporters. "Today, we're committing to work with cities to build back better together and tackle the climate crisis more aggressively than ever before."
There's a hitch, however: Uber and Lyft don't own the cars that they're pledging to electrify. In fact, they're fighting legal battles in California, Massachusetts, and elsewhere to prove that their drivers-who own the cars-aren't even employees. So electrifying "their" fleet hinges on convincing the often not-wealthy people who often drive part-time for their apps to get behind the wheel of a new, often more expensive car. Beyond the drivers, the plans turn on decisions-by policymakers, by the people who fund and build charging infrastructure, and by riders-that the companies don't control.
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