Uber to add 1,000 electric cars to its India fleet
What's the story
Uber is moving to make mobility in India cleaner with a shift to electric vehicles. The ride-hailing giant has announced a major partnership, as part of which it will be adding as many as 1,000 electric cars to its fleet in several parts of the country. Here is all you need to know about the effort.
Partnership
Partnership with Lithium Urban Technologies
Uber has partnered with Lithium Urban Technologies, India's largest electric vehicle fleet operator, to bring 1,000 EVs in its fleet. The vehicles, it says, will be added to Uber Rentals and Premier categories and will be available for booking in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune over the coming months. Out of the 1,000, 100+ cars have already been deployed, the company said.
Vehicles
Which vehicles are being deployed?
Uber says that all the electric vehicles it plans to deploy will be sedans like Mahindra eVerito and Tata Tigor EV. Moreover, it will be using Lithium Urban's charging network to operate these vehicles across the selected cities. Lithium Urban's charging hubs can charge multiple cars and buses simultaneously, and they also have fast chargers that can charge a sedan in just 90 minutes.
Plan
Uber hopes to make vehicles electric by 2040
This is the fourth such partnership for Uber, after similar agreements with Yulu, Mahindra, and SUN Mobility. "Over the next 12 months, we remain committed to scaling up to 2,000 electric vehicles on our platform, including the Lithium Urban EVs," the company said, noting that it hopes to make all Uber rides 100% emission-free by 2040 through these and other similar efforts.
Lithium vehicles
Lithium Urban operates a range of electrical vehicles
Founded in 2015, Lithium Urban Technologies claims to be operating thousands of electric sedans, hatchbacks, SUVs, and buses across 10 Indian cities on the back of its own infrastructure of 500+ chargers and charging hubs. Their charging network comprises both fast and slow chargers, which take between 90 minutes to 8-9 hours to charge cars.
Quote
Here is what Lithium Urban's CEO said on the partnership
"Our partnership with Uber has the potential to significantly add to the number of electric kilometers covered by cars in every city. The responsibility to accelerate the adoption of clean mobility belongs to all, and partnerships have important role to play in making that happen."