Uber to introduce 25,000 EVs in India amid clean car push

The Centre and state governments are pushing for greater electrification of shared taxis

Uber will introduce 25,000 electric sedans made by Tata Motors to its India fleet, marking the ride-sharing platform's first real move to adopt green cars in the country.

The plan comes amid a larger push by the government to electrify public transport and fleets of shared mobility platforms. Uber has also committed to a 100% global switch to zero-emission vehicles or rides via micro mobility and public transit by 2040. Last month, rival Ola revealed plans to deploy a fleet of 10,000 EVs.

“The success of its EV-only peers like Blu Smart and Lithium has forced Uber to hasten the introduction of EVs in its fleet. Moreover, this move will help Uber to achieve its ESG goals as well,” Suraj Ghosh, Director, Powertrain & Compliance Forecasts, South Asia, S&P Global Mobility, said. “It’s a win-win as the end result would be lower CO2 emissions from the tailpipes.”

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The tie-up represented the largest EV partnership yet between an automaker and a ride-sharing platform in India, Uber India and South Asia President Prabhjeet Singh pointed out.

Ride-hailing fleet companies were expected to lead the electrification of mobility before the personal segment accepted EVs as mainstream, Ghosh pointed out.
“Along those lines, this MoU is very apt and timely,” he said.

Uber will introduce the electric sedans in its premium category and deploy them in key markets such as Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad. Tata Motors, which is India's No. 1 electric carmaker, will begin the e-sedan deliveries to Uber fleet partners in a phased manner, starting this month.

Tata Motors launched the ‘XPRES’ brand exclusively for fleet customers in July 2021, and the XPRES-T EV was the first vehicle under the brand. With two range options – 315 km and 277 km, the two variants carry batteries of 26 kWh and 25.5 kWh and can be charged from 0- 80% in 59 mins and 110 mins respectively.

“Offering customers our environmentally friendly EV ride experiences via Uber’s premium category service, will accelerate the adoption of green and clean personal ride sharing,” said Shailesh Chandra, the managing director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility.