Uber and Chinese automaker BYD have announced a multi-year partnership to introduce 100,000 new electric vehicles to Uber’s ride-hailing platform worldwide.
This collaboration, set to begin in Europe and Latin America, will provide Uber drivers with affordable pricing and financing options for BYD’s electric vehicles, with plans to expand to the Middle East, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The partnership excludes the United States.
Additionally, Uber and BYD plan to integrate BYD’s vehicles with self-driving technologies into the ride-hailing platform and work together to develop autonomous driving vehicles.
“Together with Uber, we want to make green transportation accessible and affordable for everyone. This collaboration marks a new era in the electrification of urban mobility,” commented Stella Li, CEO of BYD Americas, on the newly forged partnership.
Uber and BYD’s partnership will support the EV transition by offering drivers discounts on vehicle maintenance, charging, financing, and leasing, varying by market, the companies said in a joint statement. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi highlighted the environmental benefits, noting that an Uber driver switching to an EV can deliver up to four times the emissions reductions compared to a regular driver due to their increased time on the road.
Meanwhile, BYD’s U.S. rival, Tesla, is set to unveil its robotaxi product in October following a dip in EV sales in the first half of the year. Despite BYD surpassing Tesla as the world’s largest electric vehicle maker last year, Tesla has since reclaimed the top position.
In January, Uber announced its collaboration with Tesla to encourage the use of EVs by its drivers in the U.S., aiming to achieve emission-free operations in U.S. and Canadian cities by 2030.
BYD delivered over 3 million electric vehicles in 2023 and aims to increase that to 4 million in 2024. In the first half of the year (January – June), BYD sold 1.6 million EVs.
