Uber To Launch 1,000 Electric Cars In India In Partnership With Lithium
Uber plans to deploy over 1,000 electric cars across five major cities in India. As per the report of ET Auto, the service will be available in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Pune. To do so, Uber announced a collaboration with electric vehicle fleet operator Lithium Urban Technologies. Initially, the company will be deploying electric sedans only, including Mahindra e-Verito and Tata Tigor EV.
These EVs will be available under Uber Rentals and Premiere. The report also mentions that Uber has already deployed more than 100 EVs in the country.
The step is in line with the company’s future goals of emission-free rides. Prabhjeet Singh, president of Uber India and South Asia, said in an official statement that, “We plan to make all rides on our platform 100% emission-free by 2040 through zero-emission vehicles and the integration of public transport and micro-mobility.”
In addition, Uber plans to add up to 2,000 electric vehicles over the next 12 months.
Also Read: India Might Allow Chinese Automaker GWM To Enter In India
Uber Electric Cars Will Be Economical
Introducing electric vehicles as cabs will not only reduce pollution, but also it will be economical. The cost of electricity consumed in charging an electric car is less than that of gasoline. Additionally, since there are fewer mechanical components in EVs, the overall maintenance cost is far less than that of ICE cars.
This way, it can save a decent amount for cab drivers, and eventually, it’ll reduce the cost of rides for customers. As you can see, the adoption of EVs will have multiple benefits apart from reducing emissions.
The only concerning issue is the time required for charging an electric car. On average, it takes around 8-9 hours to charge an EV using a normal charger and around 1 to 2 hours with a fast DC charger.
However, as the report suggests, Lithium Urban Technologies has multiple charging stations in the above-mentioned cities. We hope the facilities and charging infrastructure will improve in the future.
