Rideshare company Lyft has announced a commitment to reach 100% electric vehicles on its platform by 2030. It says by working with drivers to transition to electric vehicles, 'we have the potential to avoid tens of millions of metric tons of GHG emissions to the atmosphere and to reduce gasoline consumption by more than a billion gallons over the next decade'.
The rideshare company will purchase EVs for its rental car fleet and play a bigger role in helping drivers transition to plug-in vehicles. Lyft will work with the US government's Environmental Defense Fund on incentives for drivers.
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Lyft said the 100% commitment includes cars in the Express Drive rental car partner programme for rideshare drivers, the consumer rental car programme for riders, Lyft's autonomous vehicle programme, and drivers' personal cars used on the Lyft platform.
"Now more than ever, we need to work together to create cleaner, healthier, and more equitable communities," said John Zimmer, co-founder and president, Lyft. "Success breeds success, and if we do this right, it creates a path for others. If other rideshare and delivery companies, automakers and rental car companies make this shift, it can be the catalyst for transforming transportation as a whole."
"As we move to repair the COVID-battered global economy, we have a chance to rebuild better and create a cleaner, more prosperous and more equitable future. Getting there will require investing in clean energy to create jobs and reduce pollution, and radically shifting how we move people and products," said Fred Krupp, president, Environmental Defense Fund. "Lyft's commitment accelerates momentum toward this future and sets the standard for other tech and transportation leaders to follow suit."
Some analysts point out that rideshare operators are coming under pressure on sustainability grounds – data suggests urban rides on their platforms can displace public transport journeys – as well as the COVID-19 pandemic making people less inclined to share transport under their asset-sharing, gig-economy business model.
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By GlobalDataAlso, Lyft may be attempting to get ahead of the regulators with this apparently bold goal, some say.
