As Fortune 500 companies look to minimize their environmental footprint, one organization is making a difference. Ride-share app Uber is proactively planning to go all-electric by the year 2030.
What is Uber?
Uber is a ride-sharing app available in major cities worldwide if you haven’t been outside over the last ten years. Residents and tourists use Uber daily to get around, run errands or enjoy the sights of the city they’re visiting. The company originated in 2009 and is worth nearly $68 billion.
Although Uber continues to be successful, the company has made some foes along the way. Many old-school taxi services were put out of business in many countries, due to their success. In New York City, cab drivers had to adjust to the Uber phenomenon to continue to profit. In some cities, Uber is restricted from airports.
It’s not only the taxi drivers who have beefed with Uber. In fact, environmentalists have chimed in, stating that ride-share apps add to the unnecessary pollution in metro areas. Residents are swapping out public transportation to use ride-share apps instead. This means more cars are hitting the streets and is causing massive congestion in popular urban areas.
Now, Uber wants to contribute to making the world a better place. Plans to go fully electric by 2030 would be an effort to reduce their carbon footprint. They also want their vehicles to become more compact and take up less space in metro areas to be a more efficient transportation choice. Uber has now teamed up with vehicle startup Arrival to develop their custom cars.
Arrival
Founded in 2015 with its headquarters in the United Kingdom, Arrival is a global company that produces electric vehicles. By using scalable Microfactories with in-house materials and software, Arrival has created the most efficient in-cost vehicle on the market. Not only are the vehicles cheaper to make, but they also cost less than any other vehicle on the market. On a global scale, they plan to create sustainable urban environments and comfortable experiences with their vehicles. Their company has almost 2000 employees across the United States, Netherlands, Russia and more.
Uber’s New Vehicle Concept With Arrival
Uber has now teamed up with Arrival to build its custom cars. With Uber planning to convert all its vehicles to electric by 2030, the company wanted to make sure it could create a cost-efficient vehicle for its drivers. Arrival was already up for the challenge. There are over 30 million drivers worldwide, and converting them to electric vehicles will reduce emissions and improve air quality in metro areas around the globe. Uber and Arrival have committed to making Uber drivers in London go fully electric by 2025. The rest of the world that drives Uber is expected to be fully electric by 2030.
Uber’s Arrival cars will cater to the needs of riders, providing comfort, safety, and convenience as they partake in a premium experience with each ride. Arrival has collaborated with Uber drivers to get insight into the needs of passengers.
“We are confident that electrifying ride-hailing vehicles will have an outsized impact on cities, and we are keen to support drivers as they manage this transition,” Tom Elvidge, SVP Arrival Mobility UK, states. “Arrival cars will be designed around drivers’ needs to create a vehicle that is affordable, durable and desirable. We have a great partnership with UPS to create a best-in-class electric delivery vehicle, and we hope to replicate that success with Uber as we develop the best possible product for ride hailing that elevates the experience of the passenger and improves drivers’ health, safety and finances.”
