Uber now offers EV rides in 25 cities
Comfort Electric has expanded to Boston, Dallas, Miami and Vancouver, Bc.
Uber has expanded its Comfort Electric service "nationwide" to 24 US cities, letting users request rides in all-electric vehicles like the Tesla Model 3, Polestar 2 and Ford Mustang Mach-E. It also expanded to Vancouver in British Columbia, which has the highest sales rate of zero-emission vehicles in North America.
Comfort Electric launched last May in several cities as part of the Uber Comfort service. That allows riders to request extra legroom and other high-end features for a 20-40 percent premium over Uber X trips. It's separate from the Uber Green service, which gives drivers an extra fee for electrified vehicles. Uber Green allows both EVs and hybrids, though, while Comfort Electric is limited to EVs.
Uber said that its partnership with Hertz "helped pave the way for the expansion of Comfort Electric, with more than 25,000 drivers renting a Tesla." Last year, Hertz announced that it would order 100,000 Teslas, and shortly afterwards, said it would make up to 50,000 of those available for rent solely to Uber ridesharing drivers in the US.
The service is now available in Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore-Maryland, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Connecticut, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey, NYC Suburbs, Philadelphia, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St Louis, Vancouver (Canada) and Washington, DC — up from 11 cities previously.
The expansion looks like a small step in Uber's goal of becoming a zero-emissions platform in the US and Canada by 2030. It has promised to spend $800 million to help drivers transition to all-electric vehicles by 2025. California will require ride-hailing services to be all-electric by 2030, and other states like New York also plan to ban sales of gas-burning cars.
