Uber, which is fighting a ban from operating in London, has agreed a deal with Nissan for up to 2,000 Leafs to be made available for its drivers. The ride hailer wants every car on its app in the UK capital – around 45,000 drivers – to be fully electric from 2025.
Uber claims its Clean Air Plan will save drivers an average of GBP4,500, depending on miles driven, off the cost of switching to an electric car.
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The UK-made 40kWh Leafs, which can travel up to 168 miles on a single charge, will be offered to drivers as part of the Clean Air Plan.
Nissan will provide Uber with a dedicated EV education programme, an undisclosed but presumably discounted ‘transaction price’ and marketing plan to drive uptake.
Uber in January 2019 launched its Clean Air Plan to help its drivers upgrade to an electric vehicle through the introduction of a Clean Air Fee – 15p a mile is added on to all London journeys.
In the first year, Uber said, it raised GBP80m to support drivers transitioning to electric vehicles with GBP200m expected to be raised over the next few years.
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By GlobalDataOnce a driver has adopted a fully electric vehicle, the Clean Air Fee is used to support ongoing vehicle costs.
In the first year of the Clean Air Plan, Uber said, 900,000 journeys have taken place in electric vehicles, an increase of 350% year on year. Around 500 drivers a week are now using electric vehicles.
Transport for London has installed 1,000 EV charge points in the last year alone. Conversely, central London has nearly half as many petrol stations per car as the Scottish Highlands and only four remain within the congestion charge zone.
A recent review of London boroughs found that Westminster council had installed 375 public chargers by the end of August 2019 – more than any other local authority in the UK.
In 2016, Nissan supplied a fleet of 20 Leafs to Uber as part of an extensive EV trial in the capital. It was the first time pure EVs had been available for hire through the Uber app in London. The trial was run in partnership with the Energy Savings Trust (EST), to look into the feasibility of running large numbers of electric private hire vehicles in the UK.
CNBC noted Uber faces being blocked in the capital after Transport for London (TfL) stripped it of its licence. Uber has since appealed the move, and can continue operating in the city while it fights the ban in the courts.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has made it his priority to clean up the city’s dirty air, imposing a strict daily charge of GBP12.50 on drivers of older, polluting petrol and diesel vehicles in an area that’s been dubbed the ‘ultra low emission zone’ or ULEZ. The charge is additional to the congestion charge.
