On July 31, Chinese automaker BYD (Build Your Dreams) and international mobility and delivery technology company Uber announced a multi-year strategic partnership. This collaboration aims to deploy 100,000 new BYD electric vehicles in key global markets, further expanding the electric vehicle fleet on the Uber platform.
BYD and Uber stated that their cooperation will initially commence in Europe and Latin America, gradually expanding to the Middle East, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The initiative will provide Uber drivers with affordably priced BYD electric vehicles.
Post collaboration, BYD and Uber will also offer vehicle maintenance, charging, financing, and leasing discounts to drivers based on market conditions to support the transition to electric vehicles. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi remarked, "When Uber drivers switch to electric vehicles, the emission reduction benefits are four times greater than those of regular drivers due to their longer driving hours."
BYD Chairman and President Wang Chuanfu commented, "Both BYD and Uber are committed to innovation and building a cleaner, greener world. I am pleased that BYD can join hands with Uber to advance towards this future."
Furthermore, BYD and Uber announced their joint efforts to develop autonomous driving vehicles and deploy them on Uber's ride-hailing platform in the future. Uber stated that, as the world's largest on-demand mobility and delivery platform, it is fully capable of scaling autonomous driving technology globally.
Following the announcement, Uber's stock price rose by approximately 2.5% in pre-market trading.
In the past two years, the high price tags of electric vehicles and rising borrowing costs have hindered their widespread adoption, leading to slower-than-expected growth in demand. However, the increasingly urgent issue of climate change and the pressing need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have provided a boost to the electrification process in global transportation.
It is worth noting that Uber's collaboration with BYD is not its only foray into electric vehicles. In January of this year, Uber also partnered with Tesla to encourage American drivers to use electric vehicles, aiming to achieve zero emissions in U.S. and Canadian cities by 2030.
