Uber (UBER) is hoping to introduce driverless cars in China as it pushes forward its links with electric vehicle maker BYD.
Uber Working Toward Driverless Cars with BYD
The transportation and ride-sharing company has revealed a strategic partnership with BYD. As part of this deal, their drivers will be able to get hold of its partner’s cars at preferential rates and with the help of improved financing offers. One hundred thousand BYD vehicles are to be offered to drivers in this way. The deals are for Uber’s European and Latin American operations before expanding to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Middle East.
In the UK, they’re working towards reaching zero carbon emissions by the 2030 target date they’ve set. In fact, Uber bosses expect its services in London to be 100% electric by the end of 2025. London is the first city where they’ve promised to go fully electric. Uber drivers in the US won’t get the same deals because the American government has recently imposed 100% tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.
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That move came after BYD passed Tesla as the world’s biggest manufacturer of EVs at the end of 2023. In the US, Uber offers its drivers a discount on Tesla vehicles, but the Chinese manufacturer is expected to outsell Elon Musk’s business on a global basis in 2024. This new tie-up also means they’ll be working to make self-driving vehicles from BYD available to Uber users in the future.
The Uber press release on this subject said:
By working together, the companies aim to bring down the total cost of EV ownership for Uber drivers, accelerating the uptake of EVs on the Uber platform globally, and introducing millions of riders to greener rides.