Uber Green to become second fully-electric rideshare product

Doubling down on Australia’s second hand EV market place

Thousands of Sydneysiders to give up their cars in major study

Overnight in London, Uber hosted its second annual climate event, GO–GET Zero, where CEO Dara Khosrowshahi unveiled a range of product updates and new initiatives that will accelerate Uber’s global ambition to become a zero-emissions platform by 2040. At the same time, Uber Australia reinforced its commitment to help local driver partners and delivery people make the switch to an electric vehicle (EV), as well as announcing product changes that will give Aussie riders more sustainable options to get around town.

A new electric option for riders 

Today, Uber will begin transitioning its Green product – which currently matches riders with a low- or no-emissions trip in a hybrid or EV – to a fully-electric product. This means hybrids will be phased out of the vehicle mix for Uber Green, with the product becoming fully electric from April 2025. Uber Green will be Uber’s second fully-electric product in Australia, in addition to Comfort Electric. While Comfort Electric offers riders a premium experience in more spacious EVs, Uber Green will remain priced at parity with Uber X and be serviced by a broader range of eligible EV models.

“For the past three years, we’ve been laser focused on helping lower the costs for driver partners to get behind the wheel of an EV, from halving our service fees to major vehicle and charging partnerships,” said Emma Foley, Managing Director of Uber Australia & New Zealand. “While we’ve made significant progress in electrifying our platform – on average, there are more than 25,000 rides happening in an EV each day – now is the time to speed up, not slow down, in helping riders and driver partners make the switch.”

“We congratulate Uber on launching its second fully-electric rideshare product which will give customers the option of supporting the growing electric car industry in Australia,” added Samantha Johnson, CEO of Australia’s Electric Vehicle Council.

In the third quarter of this year, more than 5,400 EVs completed more than 2.3 million trips in Australia. Moreover, EVs completed just over 5 percent of all kilometers driven on the platform during this period. While this reflects significant progress since Uber began its electrification journey Down Under in 2021, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

Accelerating Australia’s second hand EV market

To help grow the number of EVs to serve the increasing demand for electric rideshare products, Uber is leveraging the scale of its platform to grow Australia’s burgeoning second hand EV market. In August, Uber announced a pilot with Car Empire to offer used Nissan Leaf EVs to Uber driver partners and delivery people in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Following a swift and positive response to these offers, Uber and Car Empire will be expanding these affordable financing offers to more than 20 additional second hand and new EV models, including the MG MG4, Kia EV6 and Volvo EX30. Later this year, Uber and Car Empire will also introduce a new rental offer on the pre-owned Nissan Leaf that will give driver partners and delivery people access to EVs without the need for a financing arrangement.

David Cosgrove, Director of Car Empire, said, “Following a successful launch of our used car offering, we are excited to introduce a substantial selection of quality electric vehicles through a new arrangement secured by Car Empire. This partnership not only enhances our offerings but also reinforces our commitment to providing accessible electric vehicle options for Uber drivers.”

At the same time, Uber is building on its years-long partnership with Splend to bring even more EVs onto the rideshare platform. In addition to the competitive offers on new EVs already available via Splend, they have made available 200+ pre-owned EVs to driver partners and delivery people across Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Canberra. Cars available will include the Tesla Model 3 and Y, Polestar 2 and the MG MG4 and will be available via outright purchase or flexi-own options that will lead to full ownership in less than three years.  

“Splend’s partnership with Uber reinforces our dedication to fostering a cleaner and more efficient future for urban environments. By 2025, we anticipate having 10,000 electric vehicles operating across Australia and London,” said Chris King, CEO of Splend. “This collaboration offers substantial advantages for drivers. In Australia, drivers can enter the market from as low as $279 per week. Our all-inclusive subscriptions are designed to outperform traditional car finance options, providing drivers with a cost-effective pathway to vehicle ownership. Splend helps provide a pivotal step towards transforming urban mobility and reducing emissions in the rideshare sector.”

Looking beyond electrification to a net-zero future

Today, Uber also announced plans to run a large-scale study across the Sydney Metro area that will see 2,400+ Sydneysiders give up their cars for three weeks to understand the barriers and opportunities to car-light living. This study, One Less Car, builds on a smaller initial trial Uber ran last year that saw 58 Aussies give up their cars for a month in favour of other modes of transport. A key finding of that experiment was that people needed convenient access to four alternative modes of high-quality transport if they were to be successful in ditching their cars.

“We know there’s still a lot of work that has to happen – across industries and across the public and private sectors – to achieve Australia’s net-zero ambitions. And while the transition to EVs is essential, we believe that if all we do is electrify every car on Australian roads in the coming decades, we’ll have missed a key piece of the puzzle,” said Foley. “An emissions-free future depends on a fundamental rethinking of how people move through our cities, and especially in Australia, that means not defaulting to the private car for every trip.”

This next phase of the One Less Car study will begin in November and test a number of interventions designed to help participants get around Sydney without their cars. The study is being designed in consultation with leading behavioural change and consumer research firm Human8, and while specifics are still being finalised, the study will test a range of areas, including price, service, messaging, infrastructure and policy levers. Specific interventions may also include product bundling, cross-platform subscriptions, or marketing campaigns and will prioritise public and active transport, as well as micromobility (e-bikes and scooters). 

Uber is seeking expressions of interest from Sydneysiders who are interested in exploring a car-free lifestyle and joining the study. Members of the public can click here for more information on the study and to register their interest in participating.

Click here for more information on Uber’s global work to eliminate vehicle emissions on our platform and reimagine the way Australian cities move.