Uber creates service in which its users will be able to request a ride in an electric vehicle

Uber is developing a new category of service where users will be able to request rides in an electric vehicle from Tesla and other companies.

Uber announced on Wednesday (18) a new service in which its users will be able to request a ride in an electric vehicle. The initiative was named Uber Comfort Electric and launched in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Dubai and will be coming to other cities and countries soon. The service covers several vehicles from Polestar and the famous Tesla, as well as other unspecified vehicles. This new service from Uber is part of its commitment to become a mobility platform with zero emissions 2040 up.

Uber partners with car rental company

Recently, the company entered into a partnership with the car rental company Hertz so that 50 Tesla electric vehicles could be included in its service by next year. Currently, renting a Tesla electric vehicle costs, on average, US$ 334 per week, however this value should be reduced to R$ 300 in the future.

Therefore, Uber hopes to encourage and educate drivers to use electric cars. The company will also make available a function in its application that will be called EV Hub, which will provide more information on the costs of having an electric vehicle compared to a combustion car and will tell you the locations of nearby charging stations, as well as what charging speeds in those places.

Another program announced by the company is Uber Travel, which makes it possible for users to book trips for specific parts of their itinerary just by connecting their Gmail account to the app.

Details on the partnership between Uber and Hertz

In October of last year the Hertz announced its large order of 100 Tesla Model 3s, which will be acquired for the company to make use of electric vehicles for hire alongside Uber. At the time, the company's CEO, Marks Fields, said that he would soon also order another 100 units of the electric vehicle for Uber use.

In this first phase, Hertz invested US$ 4,2 billion, making it the largest purchase of electric vehicles ever made in the world. According to the Hertz executive, of these 100 units purchased, 50 will be for direct use by Uber and its drivers, and that only the remaining half will be part of the company's own vehicle fleet.

The company's expectation is that 100 units of the model will already be circulating by the end of 2022. It is important to note that the vehicles will not be equipped with Full Self Driving, given that the CEO of Hertz should save somewhere and taking into account that this technology costs around 10 euros.

Other services announced by Uber

The company also announced Uber Charter, which is launching in the US. The service is in partnership with US Coachways, a national bus service, which allows passengers to book large vehicles such as vans and buses directly through the app. One of the benefits of the service for the user is that it will be possible to organize the transport of a group of people.

The company also announced Uber Vouchers, which can come in handy at events like weddings. This is a service that was only available to companies, but now everyone can use it.

The service will help with the arrival of guests and with transportation costs. With Vouchers it is possible to fill in the details of this event, define a maximum value, location, among others.