Uber's New Fee Will Help It Go All-Electric In London By 2025

Uber has decided to make London the first city where all of its vehicles will be electric, a move that will reduce pollution while offering the public ample green transportation options. The transition will take place by 2025 and include charging riders an electric car fee. This news follows the company's ban in the city, something that changed only recently.

If everything goes as planned, all Uber cars in London will be fully electric by the year 2025, though the company anticipates helping thousands of drivers make the transition by 2021. According to the BBC, Uber will start charging riders in the city a small fee in 2019 intended to help cover the cost of updating to electric vehicles. The transition will help reduce pollution in the capital.

The news was provided by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi; according to the report, the fee may be around 15p per mile with a start date of early 2019. Uber plans to use the money to help drivers afford electric vehicles, the idea being that 20,000 Uber drivers will get some cash to make the switch by 2021.

At this time, Uber has approximately 40,000 drivers operating in London. The company has presented its EV plan as a long-term investment in London's future, the cars eventually being joined by a variety of other options, including scooters and bicycles. The latter two would help address road congestion resulting from private vehicle ownership.

According to the BBC, an Uber driver who operates for 40 hours a week will amass £4,500 in fee charges toward the purchase of an electric vehicle — that's not enough to actually buy one, which leaves questions about what will happen if many Uber drivers struggle to make the switch. It's unclear whether the company has any other cities in the pipeline for an all-EV transition.

SOURCE: BBC