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In today’s news, Uber dropped a slew of new sustainability announcements in their annual product event. Let’s get in to it.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Ride-hail

This week, Uber had their second ever product announcement event - they didn’t drop a VR headset but they did go full sustainability mode.

Is any of it real? Or are they just greenwashing their way to a five star rating?

Historically, the impact that Uber (or ride-hailing more broadly) has had on the environment is difficult to quantify. Supporters say they reduce reliance on new cars while detractors argue that they’ve replace less carbon intensive modes of transport like buses and trains. It all comes down to the types of trips Uber has replaced, and the jury is still out on that one.

To be fair to Uber, they’ve long leaned in to the sustainability agenda. It’s clear that the availability of Ubers has at least somewhat reduced reliance on private vehicle ownership.

They also allow customers to request EVs only and we don’t know about you but in our eyes Uber’s the one that made Priuses cool. If that ain’t spreading the green gospel, then we don’t know what is.

Driving Towards Sustainability

Uber made a number of announcements that demonstrated that they’re taking this green stuff seriously.

• Uber announced that they were rolling out a peer-to-peer car-sharing platform across their markets starting with the U.S. and Canada. This allows customers to rent cars from one another, encouraging fewer people to buy their own cars.

• Uber has added better CO2 tracking for selecting Uber Green, allowing customers to track their emissions savings over time

• Uber has introduced smart charging recommendations for drivers of EVs and Hybrids to help them figure out where to charge based on distance, pricing, traffic etc.

• Uber committed to eliminating all emissions from their fleet by 2040 across their business units

It’s clear where Uber’s priorities are, and they’re probably hoping that this line will place them well for future incentive programmes from the government whether that’s savings passed on for new EVs with drivers or savings directly to riders. It’s likely that these initiatives can have a strong impact on Uber’s emissions targets but they also make good business sense. We love saving the world and making money in the process.

Until next time,

The Strawman

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