How Uber helps drivers go electric
In September 2020, Uber committed to decarbonize its mobility network. Early steps on this green journey have already been made. During the second quarter of 2022, nearly 26,000 active drivers have completed more than 13 million trips in fully electric vehicles (EVs) on Uber in the US, Canada and Europe (Uber’s ESG report). How can Uber support even more drivers to make this transition, and further accelerate the trend of electrifying urban mobility? To answer this question, we surveyed more than 16,000 drivers from 8 countries in North America and Europe, both EV and non-EV drivers¹. We asked about their experience, barriers and opportunities they see by going electric. Here’s what we learned.
First, we find the set of current EV drivers using the Uber app are generally happy about their experience. Depending on the country, 60–72% of EV drivers state that their earnings have increased since they switched to an EV. Moreover, 80–89% of them are satisfied with the switch and 82–93% of them plan to choose an EV as their next car. This is great news; those that switched to an EV are satisfied with the switch and do not plan to go back to conventional internal combustion vehicles.
However, those currently using EVs are still early adopters and part of a tiny minority of all drivers using Uber’s app. The share of electric miles on the platform is 2.6% in the US & Canada. The ratio goes up to 6.2% in Europe where EV adoption is supported by strong public policy (Uber’s ESG report). Roger’s diffusion of innovation theory defines the first 2.5% of adopters as innovators, and the following 13.5% as early adopters. Many drivers on the Uber platform find themselves in the innovator to early adopter stage, where external support is necessary to accelerate the adoption.
What about drivers who haven’t yet switched to EVs? Remarkably, nearly half to more than two thirds (46–72%), of drivers, depending on the country, are interested in switching to EVs. Only 30% of survey participants are concerned about earning less by switching to EVs, showing that the majority of the drivers are seeing an EV switch as a positive opportunity. What lies between these positive intentions and actual behavior?
EV cost and charging infrastructure availability remain significant barriers to drivers. 61% of survey respondents think EVs are more expensive than non-EVs, and that’s a critical barrier to them. Among those for whom vehicle cost is a barrier, 38% of them are still paying a loan on their current vehicle. Many aren’t sure about the cost of purchase and how to finance it (29%), and some claim they are unable to get approval for a bank loan (14%) or lease (7%). To start addressing these driver concerns, Uber is partnering with major automakers, financing partners and fleet solutions providers to extend discounted EV offers to drivers using the app for rental, lease and purchase. For example, drivers on the Uber platform are eligible for discounts to purchase new EVs in many markets. Uber also collaborates with rental companies to increase access to EVs. For example, Uber is in partnership with Hertz to make up to 50,000 Teslas exclusively available to drivers in the US using Uber’s app by the end of 2023. Uber announced this partnership in October 2021. As of June 2022, just 8 months later, more than 15,000 drivers have rented a Tesla through this program, contributing over 40 million electric miles on the platform. For the overwhelming majority of these drivers, this was the first-ever EV they had driven on the platform.
Another critical barrier is charging infrastructure. The majority of survey participants worry that not enough EV charging exists to enable them to start using an EV. Among those who are concerned about charging availability, 47% claim that they are unable to install a home charger. Renters may need permission from their homeowner/housing association or landlord/real estate agency to install home chargers (53%) or their parking space doesn’t have an electricity connection (32%). Given that a near-majority of drivers do not have the ability to install home chargers by themselves, access to public chargers is critical to support Uber drivers switching to EV. Historically, government policy and EV industry solutions have focused on building charging infrastructure where they anticipate early EV adopters in the general population of car drivers to live, work and use EVs. As a result, EV charging locations today are not equally distributed; depending on cities, EV charging infrastructure is more available in affluent neighborhoods, and accessible for specific populations. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) concluded that 56% of drivers using ridehail apps in California live in lower-income neighborhoods. This suggests that drivers using the Uber app are different from populations for whom government policy has been primarily focused on for vehicle electrification, historically. That’s why Uber recently submitted a letter to the US Department of Transportation requesting to support an equitable transition to EVs for drivers on the Uber platform. We support the effort of governments to build necessary infrastructure to support sustainable cities, and we believe equity and sustainability should be aligned together.
Sufficient EV battery range and downtime due to charging are also concerns for drivers; however, we believe these concerns have several potential treatments. We learned from a survey conducted jointly by Uber and University of California, Davis that current EV drivers on our platform do not see charging downtime as a significant loss when they can coordinate charging with breaks or other useful ways of spending that time. Current trends towards improved battery range for new EVs and increasing charging speeds for new EV charging will further address these concerns.
We are delighted to know that current EV drivers on Uber are satisfied with their experience and intend to continue using EVs. It’s also exciting to see the high interest among non-EV drivers to switch to EVs, especially because three times more greenhouse gas emissions can be avoided by electrifying a ridehail driver’s vehicle compared to the average private car. To help the next wave of commercial and ridehail drivers adopt EVs, more comprehensive support will be needed by industry and government leaders to keep lowering the barriers to entry, especially for lower income drivers, working drivers and those living in rental and multi-unit housing. We think EV cost and charging infrastructure access are the critical barriers to be prioritized and addressed.
To start doing our part to support a fair transition for drivers, Uber has committed $800 million in resources to help drivers switch to EVs by 2025. We will continue looking for deals and partnerships to make drivers’ EV switch smooth and economical. We will also continue to build new features and develop driver programs that can help make the EV switch feasible and easy. We know we’ll get there faster together — climate is a team sport — and will keep working with both industry partners and alongside government leaders and cities. Together, we can enable accelerated and outsized impact for sustainable transportation in cities and equitable access for drivers.
¹ Conducted during the second half of 2021
