Uber Australia has officially launched into its zero-emissions focus with the release of a new electric rideshare option
Uber Australia has continued making history in the nation as it launches Australia’s first fully-electric rideshare product.
After last year launching Uber Green, which has since become Uber’s fastest ever product to reach one million trips in Australia, Uber is now launching millions of sustainable rides in hybrid and electric vehicles each month through the Uber Comfort Electric option.
With Uber One members getting exclusive first access to the product, free electric vehicle rides will also be run to the Australian Open for Uber One members, in partnership with Kia.
Uber says Australians have shown they’re backing greener rides, meaning it makes sense to offer them even more choice across its product portfolio.
“Uber Green has been the fastest growing product I’ve ever been involved in, with Aussies notching up more than half a million trips across hybrid and electric vehicles in one week of last year alone,” Uber ANZ general manager Dom Taylor says.
“The demand shows customers want more rides in more electric vehicles and we’re helping driver partners plug into that demand with a new premium Comfort Electric product that fills a gap in the market for environmentally conscious riders that want a bit more luxury with their green ride.”
This national expansion of Comfort Electric is only possible following a multi-year investment to increase the number of electric vehicles on the Uber platform. Uber says it’s another step on its journey to become a zero-emissions platform in Australia by 2040.
The Comfort Electric product will start becoming visible now for Uber’s customers who have enrolled in Uber One before it scales nationally to all Uber account holders on Monday January 29.
To help more Australians discover the comfort, quiet and convenience of Comfort Electric, Uber is also partnering with Kia Australia to launch complimentary Kia Electric rides to and from the Australian Open Tennis from Sunday January 14 until the tournament decider a fortnight later.
Uber One members will have the chance to unlock complimentary rides (capped at $100) in Kia’s newly launched EV9 vehicles alongside their critically acclaimed EV6 vehicles.
Kia, who is also transporting the athletes to the tournament, will loan 30 of their top of the range EVs to driver partners to help Australian fans arrive in style.
“We’ve chosen Melbourne to launch this experience because despite doing thousands of EV trips nationally every day, the adoption of EVs on our platform has been slower than we’d hoped in Australia’s unofficial sporting capital,” Taylor says.
“We’re optimistic that partnerships, like this one with Kia, delight riders but importantly make it easier for local driver partners to see the benefit of making the switch to EVs – to prove the customer interest is just as hot here in Victoria as it is across the country.”
Uber has also made more places available in the Service Fee Reduction program, exclusively for driver partners in Victoria. This means hundreds of driver partners who switch to electric vehicles will be eligible to have their service fees reduced by 50 per cent, or up to $3,500 per financial year, until June 2025.