Well, it seems the days of petrol and diesel cars are numbered as one of the biggest transport company in the world, Uber, has announced that it will make all its London UberX cars either electric or hybrid by 2019 and all of them fully electric by 2025.
In addition, Uber plans to ensure that cars to be requested via its app all over the United Kingdom are hybrid or all-electric by 2022.
The move is part of the ride-sharing app’s new Clean Air Plan and comes just over a month after the UK government announced that it would ban all petrol and diesel cars from sale from 2040, as part of an unprecedented plan to reduce deaths from pollution.
As part of its new plan, the ride-hailing company is also launching a diesel scrappage scheme aimed at removing 1,000 of the most polluting cars from London’s roads. The first 1,000 people to scrap a pre-Euro 4 diesel vehicle will get up to £1,500 of credit to spend on rides.
Fred Jones, Uber’s Head of UK Cities said: “Air pollution is a growing problem and we are determined to play our part in tackling it with this bold plan.
“Londoners already know many cars on our app are hybrids, but we want to go much further and go all electric in the capital. Our scrappage scheme will also take polluting vehicles off the road and encourage Londoners to get into a shared car to connect with public transport instead.”
Uber is just being proactive as it adapts its mode of operation to the rules and regulations of the country it is operating. For example, the sole reason for this upcoming changes is to ensure that it is not caught napping as the UK is planning to phase out the electric cars in 2040. It may take a bit of time for this new Uber rules to arrive the continent of Africa, even though Africans are gradually embracing electric or hybrid cars.
