Uber drivers in Europe can soon rent Polestar and Tesla EVs

Uber is expanding its electric car rentals to Europe. The ridesharing service has expanded its deal with Hertz to provide up to 25,000 EVs to European capital cities by 2025, including those from Polestar and Tesla. The rollout will begin in London this month, and will reach hubs like Amsterdam and Paris as soon as 2023. Rates and other details will be available in "due course," Uber says.

The companies first teamed up in late 2021, when Hertz pledged to offer up to 50,000 Tesla rental EVs to Uber drivers in the US. Last spring, Hertz said it would add as many as 65,000 Polestar EVs to its fleet within five years. The rental car agency claims its Uber partnership in North America has been successful - almost 50,000 drivers have rented Tesla vehicles so far.

Both firms see the European expansion as key to furthering their goals. Uber says it plans to be a "zero-emissions platform" in London by 2025, and completely electric in Europe and North America by 2030. Hertz, meanwhile, has set out to offer "one of the largest" EV fleets worldwide.

Neither brand may have much choice, however. The UK and European Union intend to ban sales of new fossil fuel cars by 2035, and the EU agreement also demands cutting new car emissions by 55 percent from 2030. Many automakers operating in Europe, like Ford and Volvo, expect to drop combustion engines by 2030. Uber and Hertz will have to adopt EVs in the next several years, and these rentals could help ease the transition for drivers who can't justify buying the technology at this stage.