Uber’s Climate Assessment and Performance Report
The environmental impact of trips served by Uber’s platform matters. It’s our responsibility to measure impact by evaluating data gathered from the real-world use of our platform, share the results publicly for greater transparency, and act to improve our climate performance.
December 2022 update: To enhance readability and access, our report will now be a metrics-focused online dashboard. (Previous reports are available below.) This update includes new data on zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and links to recent analyses of drivers’ opinions on battery-electric ZEVs and how they use them.
We’ll update this page with calendar-year 2022 metrics like carbon intensity and other emissions-related data.
“The road to zero emissions requires transparency and being accountable for progress year after year. Uber is proud to be the first mobility platform to measure and report on emissions from customers’ real-world use of our products.”
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO, Uber
ZEV drivers
More than 37,700 ZEV drivers a month, on average, actively used Uber’s app in the third quarter of 2022 in the US, Canada, and Europe.* That’s a 4-fold increase over the same period a year ago.
Metric: monthly active ZEV drivers on Uber, averaged over each quarter since 2021, the first full calendar year since announcing our 2020 sustainability commitment.
ZEV trips
In Q3 2022, ZEV drivers provided more than 19.4 million emissions-free trips using Uber in the US, Canada, and Europe.* That’s about 4.5 times higher than the same period a year ago.
Metric: number of trips arranged on the Uber app and fulfilled by ZEV drivers, by quarter since 2021.
ZEV uptake
In Q3 2022, 7.1% of all on-trip miles in Europe* and 4.1% of all on-trip miles in the US and Canada were completed by ZEV drivers. That represents year-over-year growth of 3.6 percentage points. Compared with the most-recent published government figures, ZEV uptake by drivers using Uber’s app is now more than 5x to 8x higher than that of drivers in the general population in Europe and the US, respectively.
Metric: average share of trip miles completed in ZEVs compared with all trip miles arranged by the Uber app, by quarter since 2021.
US benchmark data is sourced from the US Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center. Equivalent data for the Canadian market is unavailable and, therefore, assumed here to be broadly similar to the US market. European benchmark data is sourced from the European Commission's European Alternative Fuels Observatory and only for those European countries indicated below.*
Insights and deep dives
How Uber helps drivers go electric (2022)
Equitable electrification: early findings from the Uber-Hertz partnership (2022)
Why Uber is fundamentally different from the private car (2021)
Progress on our sustainability commitments [in European capital cities] (2021)
Measuring mobility for carbon intensity (2019)
Sharing the road—travel efficiency (2019)
Frequently asked questions
- What is in Uber’s latest Climate Assessment and Performance Report?
Our Climate Assessment and Performance Report provides city officials, environmental advocates, users, and other stakeholders with performance-based metrics on climate-related emissions, electrification progress, and efficiency metrics for passenger trips enabled by the Uber app.
- Why are you publishing this report?
The environmental impact of trips completed with Uber’s app matters. It is our responsibility to report transparently on performance and take action to improve it. Our estimates show that emissions resulting from the use of our platform are the most material component of Uber’s carbon footprint. This report, based on real-world use of our platform, provides greater transparency on our climate impact and helps us improve our efforts to support drivers' fair transition to ZEVs and reduce emissions resulting from rides.
You can read our first report (2020) here and our second report (2021) here.
- What are the key measurements you use in the Climate Assessment and Performance Report?
Metrics include the following:
- EV use by drivers on Uber (share of on-trip miles or kilometers completed in ZEVs), which measures our progress toward our goal of 100% zero-emission mobility on Uber by 2040
- Travel efficiency, which evaluates how well we help people move while minimizing car use
- Carbon intensity, which measures the emissions resulting from every passenger mile
- How will this report improve carbon intensity for rides on Uber?
We have bold ambitions to reduce the carbon intensity of every trip facilitated by Uber to zero emissions in the next 2 decades. We cannot reach that goal without knowing where we stand today.
- Do riders take trips with Uber instead of using lower-carbon options?
Rides with the Uber app are one of many transportation options available to riders. Trip choice depends a lot on various local market conditions.
- Will you measure the same data for other countries or regions around the world?
We added major European markets to our second annual report, published in 2021, and now cover passenger rides completed in the US, Canada, and a large portion of our European market. We’re committed to regular reporting on climate emissions and other impact areas resulting from trips on Uber. We plan to expand the geographic scope of markets covered in the report over time.
- How often do you update these metrics and the report?
We update all metrics at least annually and may update some metrics more frequently, as available. We plan to release emissions metrics (like passenger carbon intensity) annually, aggregated by calendar year.
- What do you mean by “zero-emission vehicle”?
We use the term “zero-emission vehicle” (ZEV) the same way the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Europe’s Transport & Environment (T&E) do: to refer to vehicles that produce no direct CO2 emissions or other criteria air pollutants (such as NOx, particulate matter, CO₂, and SOx) from the on-board source of power.
Drivers using Uber’s app use 2 types of ZEVs today: battery electric vehicles (battery EVs) and, very occasionally, hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).
Of course, the “zero” in ZEV refers to no emissions from the proverbial “tailpipe” of the vehicle and not necessarily all the emissions that can be accounted for from production to disposal of the vehicle and its energy source. All accounted for, however, life-cycle analyses by independent experts show that “emissions over the lifetime of average medium-size battery EVs registered today are already lower than comparable gasoline cars by 66%–69% in Europe, 60%–68% in the United States, 37%–45% in China, and 19%–34% in India.”
- Will you measure impact for your Uber Eats, delivery, and Uber Freight businesses, which now make up a large share of Uber’s business?
Our 2022 report covers passenger rides completed in the US, Canada, and a large portion of our European market. Over time, we plan to extend our approach to transparency, learnings, and sustainability strategies to our delivery and freight businesses as well.
This page and the related Climate Assessment and Performance Reports (“the report”) contain forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectations and goals, which involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated. For more information, please see our reports.
*In 2020, we set a goal of reaching 50% of trip kilometers completed in battery EVs by 2025 in 7 European capitals: Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Lisbon, London, Madrid, and Paris. For this reason, all mentions of “Europe” for the metrics reported here refer to all passenger mobility trips completed in the country-level markets corresponding to these 7 European capitals: the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, the UK, Spain, and France, respectively. Further details can be found in our SPARK! report.
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