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Leading ride-hailing company, <a href="http://uber.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Uber</a> is looking to deploy 100,000 new electric vehicles into its global platform. This is coming as the taxi app company signed a bumper deal with Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker, BYD, for the supply of new vehicles. 
Recall that Uber had resolved that all vehicles operating on its platform globally must be fully electric by 2040. This deal with BYD is therefore one step in the right direction as it aims to make electric vehicle ownership more accessible for Uber drivers through affordable pricing and financing options. 
The new partnership which will initially be focused on Europe and Latin America, will eventually be expanded to include the Middle East, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Africa, however, is not a focus of the deal. 
To sweeten the deal, make it more attractive for e-hailing drivers and accelerate the adoption of the BYD vehicles, Uber and BYD said they will be offering drivers incentives such as maintenance discounts, charging benefits, and flexible financing options. 
Speaking about the potential environmental impact that massively adopting electric vehicles for e-hailing could have, Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, emphasized that drivers could spend more time on the road and still have less emissions compared to regular motorists. 
“When an Uber driver makes the switch to an EV, they can deliver up to four times the emissions benefits compared to a regular motorist, simply because they are on the road more,” Khosrowshahi said in a statement. 
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 Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi
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Uber also said the partnership will explore integrating BYD’s vehicles with self-driving technology. 
<h4 id="is-africa-being-excluded-from-ubers-electric-vehicle-drive" class="wp-block-heading">Is Africa being excluded from Uber’s electric vehicle drive?</h4> 
The latest partnership between Uber and BYD is coming as the world continues to push for cleaner energy/fuel sources, driven by mounting climate change concerns and stringent emissions regulations. This is especially more so in the public transport sector, one of the world’s highest emission sources. It is for this reason that electric vehicles are being developed to tackle this problem. 
Electric vehicle adoption continued to grow across the globe albeit at a very slow pace. This is especially true in Africa, where the adoption has largely been focused on public mass transportation schemes. An example is BasiGo which has secured numerous bus delivery deals across East Africa, including Kenya and Rwanda. 
In 2023, Lagos State in Nigeria secured hundreds of electric buses for its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scheme. In April 2024, the state said it was planning to purchase an additional 2,050 vehicles to meet its mass transportation needs. 
African countries, however, do not appear very enthusiastic about pushing for electric vehicles for more private and personal transportation. The biggest reason for this is the cost of an average electric vehicle which is way higher than what the average citizen could earn. 
In countries like Nigeria, the focus has, therefore, switched to Compressed Natural Gas powered vehicles. This is especially true for Nigerian e-hailing drivers as a recent Technext report gathered that the drivers are opting for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG cars) rather than switching to EVs. 
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According to drivers who spoke with this reporter, the cost of fueling their vehicles has become one of the two elements that affect their earnings the most daily. The other is the cost of maintaining the vehicles. However, while they acknowledge that EVs might present a good opportunity to do away with both costs, they are sceptical about going for them. 
“We are sceptical about EVs because of the maintenance and durability of the batteries. We are used to handling gasoline vehicles but EVs will be new technology which many drivers will have to get accustomed to and that’s a learning curve there,” an e-hailing driver, Ajibola said. 
Read more: <a href="https://technext24.com/2024/04/07/cng-cars-e-hailing-drivers-converting/">Nigerian e-hailing drivers are choosing CNG cars over Electric Vehicles and here is why</a> 
Overall, aside from mass transportation, African countries do not seem enthusiastic about electric vehicles just yet. Uber had probably realised this and may not be in a hurry to introduce services into markets that are not ready for it. Whenever the ride-sharing company decides it is ready, it already has a waiting vehicle financing partner in Africa, Moove, through which it would play in that space. 
Moove is Uber’s largest vehicle supply and financing partner. The ride-hailing company also became one of its biggest investors, emerging its major back in its latest funding, a $110 million raise. Moove is Uber’s largest supplier of electric vehicles in India, therefore, carrying out the same in Africa would not be a problem. 
However, the vehicle-financing company is still grappling with regular vehicle financing on the continent, a reality which indicates the market is simply not ready for electric vehicle financing yet.

Uber to deploy 100,000 new electric vehicles to its global markets excluding Africa

Technext.ng

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