Uber announced on Monica SwinnFriday that it wants all its cars in London to be electric by 2025.
It's an ambitious goal, one that will take some serious investment. But Uber has a plan for that—add a little extra charge to every single ride. Riders will soon see an extra 35 pence tacked onto their London jaunts.
UberPool Trips, however, won't have the added charge.
SEE ALSO: Uber’s (probable) new CEO is known to be 'fair and nice,' for a changeThe new surcharge is part of Uber's larger "clean air" fund that follows on the UK government's recent efforts to limit pollution, which include a plan to end the sale of diesel or gas-powered cars by 2040.
Uber said it expects to collect around £150 million to fuel the transition. The company is also kicking in £2 million of its own cash.
“Air pollution is a growing problem and we’re determined to play our part in tackling it with this bold plan. Londoners already know many cars on our app are hybrids, but we want to go much further and go all electric in the capital," said Fred Jones, Uber's head of UK cities, in a press release. "Our scrappage scheme will also take polluting vehicles off the road and encourage Londoners to get into a shared car to connect with public transport instead."
In addition to the 2025 goal, Uber said it wants all London cars to be either hybrids or entirely electric by the end of 2019. Uber has a partnership with Nissan that offers discounted leases on electric cars.
Uber's not the only taxi service embracing electric vehicles. London's iconic black taxis will soon be battery-powered.
Uber is also offering an interesting scheme to get more diesel cars off the road. The first 1,000 London residents who turn in their old clunkers to the ongoing scrappage scheme will get up to £1,500 of UberPool credits.
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Topics Electric Vehicles Uber
