Uber Announces Measures To Ramp Up Electrification Of Its Fleet Ahead Of Tesla's Robotaxi Unveil

Uber Technologies UBER is working towards its goal of transforming into a zero-emission platform with measures including the introduction of an AI assistant on the driver app to help with EV-related queries, company CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on Tuesday.

What Happened: Uber committed to transforming into a zero-emission platform by 2040 four years ago. On Tuesday, Khosrowshahi said in a blog that the company invested heavily to increase the number of electric vehicles in its fleet to over 182,000 units.

“It's important progress, but we know it's not enough. In order to help repair our planet, both the public and private sectors need to act with more urgency. And while we know the future is electric, getting there requires new ideas and constant innovation,” the CEO said.

The CEO also announced the rollout of new features and updates to ramp up the electrification of its fleet including kicking off a series of premium EV pop-ups so riders can try previous EVs such as the Lotus Eletre in London and Rivian R1 in LA, Miami, and Dallas. The CEO also announced an AI assistant in the driver app powered by OpenAI's GPT-4o to help resolve drivers’ queries on EVs.

Why It Matters: Uber’s push towards electrification comes ahead of EV giant Tesla Inc. TSLA unveiling its dedicated robotaxi product on Oct. 10.

Musk has previously said that the company’s robotaxi fleet will operate as a mix of Uber and Airbnb. While a certain portion of the fleet will be owned by Tesla, individual Tesla customers can also add or subtract their vehicles to the robotaxi fleet at will for additional income. As for riders, they can summon a car using the Tesla App, Musk said.

However, not a lot of people are convinced about the functionality of this model, including the Uber CEO who flagged concerns including whether a car owner is going to want their car to be ridden in by a complete stranger.

He also flagged other concerns including trouble in meeting demand as individual drivers might want their vehicles at the same hour as when demand peaks.

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