• Uber and other ride-sharing apps need to push to have 40 percent of their fleet made electric by 2024.
• Uber’s EV option in India is limited to Delhi-NCR and only for pre-scheduled trips.
• Uber says it will roll the offering out to more regions in India in the coming months.

Electric vehicles are coming to the Delhi-NCR region as Uber tries to curb emissions in India.

While the pilot is limited, according to TechCrunch, Uber will be rolling out to more areas over the next few months. Curiously, however, this option to request an electric vehicle (EV) is only available for pre-scheduled trips. We suppose this makes sense as an electric vehicle doesn’t have the convenience of being juiced up at a pump between trips.

Riders can schedule an EV up to 30 days in advance and can cancel the ride 60 minutes before the trip at no cost.

“As the leading mobility app in India, we are committed to supporting the Indian government’s emission goals. Expect to see more electric vehicles — be they two, three or four-wheeled — across Indian cities in the coming months,” an Uber spokesperson told TechCrunch.

The firm added that it is working with multiple fleet partners, OEMs and charging infrastructure partners to build its EV business in a sustainable manner.

Earlier this year, Moove, which works with Uber to supply vehicles in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, announced its launch in India. The firm said it aimed to bring 5 000 compressed natural gas and electric vehicles to India in its first year of operation.

We should point out that Uber has little choice in this regard and has to invest in electric vehicles. Back in 2019, the Indian government ordered the likes of Uber and Ola to convert 40 percent of their fleet of cars to EVs by 2026.

According to Reuters, by the end of this year, both firms should be sitting at around five percent electrification of the fleets. How far along these firms are on that journey is not known for now.

This push for EVs in India is creating a thriving marketplace for those vehicles. Ola initially launched electric scooters in India and there are plans to launch an electric car in 2024. Together with Moove’s entrance into India, this means that drivers on ride-hailing apps have more access to these solutions.

While Uber’s initial rollout of EVs seems small, looking at the bigger picture, it’s set to become a massive endeavour. We hope that South Africa will look to our BRICS ally and learn from it as we address our own carbon emission problems.