Nissan has signed a deal for up to 2,000 Leafs to be made available for Uber drivers in London. The move is a big step towards the ride-hailing company’s goal of making its entire London fleet electric from 2025.
The Leafs will be offered to app-using drivers as a part of the company’s ‘Clean Air Plan’, which launched a year ago. Nissan will also give Uber a dedicated EV education programme, a special price and a marketing plan to help accelerate EV uptake. At present, Uber has 45,000 drivers working in London.
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“Through innovation and collaboration, companies like Nissan and Uber can tackle the challenges of advancing personal urban mobility, whilst also improving air quality in our major cities,” said Andrew Humberstone, managing director of Nissan GB.
“As the UK’s best-selling EV, the Nissan Leaf is the perfect vehicle to support Uber’s ambition of a 100 percent electric fleet in London for 2025.”
The Clean Air Alan is designed to help Uber drivers move to EVs. A clean air fee of 15p per mile is added to all London journeys, which goes towards helping drivers with the cost of adopting one.
The company raised £80 million in the first year, while a further £200 million or more is expected over the coming years.
The plan is expected to save Uber drivers an average of £4,500 on the cost of switching to an EV. So far, 900,000 Uber journeys have been in EVs, an increase of 350 percent on 2018. On average, 500 drivers a week are using EVs exclusively.
“Our bold vision for London is for every driver on the Uber app to use an all-electric vehicle by 2025,” said Jamie Heywood, regional manager for Uber in northern and eastern Europe.