Uber deal could add 100,000 ride-hailing EVs to roads

Uber is teaming up with BYD to bring 100,000 of the Chinese automaker’s electric vehicles to the ride-sharing app. The multi-year partnership will roll out in Europe and Latin America first, giving drivers “best-in-class pricing and financing” for BYD vehicles used with Uber.

Uber says the goal is to encourage more drivers to use EVs as part of its plan to electrify its rides, while also lowering the cost of EV ownership. Along with potential discounts on financing and loans, the partnership could give BYD drivers price cuts on charging and vehicle maintenance, depending on the market.

Both companies plan to bring the partnership to the Middle East, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in the future. Uber announced a similar partnership in 2022 that let drivers rent EVs from Hertz. But Hertz ended up scaling back the program after finding higher rates of vehicle damage among Uber drivers.

Additionally, Uber and BYD will work together to bring more autonomous vehicles to the ride-sharing platform. Uber began offering rides with the robotaxi company Waymo last year and expanded its partnership to include autonomous food delivery in April. “This collaboration marks a new era in the electrification of urban mobility, and we look forward to seeing our cutting-edge EVs become a common sight on the streets of cities worldwide,” Stella Li, the CEO of BYD Americas, says in the announcement.

It’s not clear how Uber’s partnership with BYD will pan out, especially as countries around the globe restrict sales of EVs made in China. The Chinese government provides billions in subsidies to EV automakers in the country, allowing them to sell EVs cheaper than rivals and potentially harming foreign competition. The US raised the tariffs on EVs from China in May, and the European Union followed suit with an extra 17.4 percent tariff on BYD imports in July.