In its State of the City Address On Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that Uber and Lyft will be required to be zero emissions by 2030. The decision by one of the world’s largest markets for app-based ride-sharing has the potential to affect approximately 100,000 rental vehicles.
Adams said the move will build on efforts his administration has made to electrify the city’s vehicle fleet while installing the charging infrastructure to power those vehicles in all five boroughs. The mayor is likely to implement his plan through the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, which regulates the for-hire vehicle industry, including Uber and Lyft.
Uber and Lyft, which typically chafe at new requirements and have been known to sue to block the rules don’t like it, they sound largely positive towards the new development in New York.
Adams said the move will build on efforts his administration has made to electrify the city’s vehicle fleet while installing the charging infrastructure to power those vehicles in all five boroughs.
“We are excited to partner with New York City on our journey,” Paul Augustine, Lyft’s chief sustainability officer, said in a statement. “New York’s commitment will accelerate an equitable transition to electric across the city, and we look forward to collaborating with TLC on an ambitious plan for a clean-mile rideshare standard.”
“We applaud the mayor’s ambition to reduce emissions, an important goal we share,” Josh Gold, Uber’s senior director of policy, said in a statement. “Uber has been making real progress to become the first zero-emission mobility platform in North America, and there is much more to do.”
Both companies are already in the process of taking steps to incentivize their drivers to switch to electric vehicles, either through partnerships with car rental companies like Hertz or by authorizing higher rates for drivers who use electric vehicles. . uber and Lyft Both have said they aim for their fleet to be “100 percent electric” by 2030.
Of course, getting the millions of people who drive for Uber and Lyft to switch to electric vehicles will be no easy task. Ridehail drivers are classified as independent contractors, and many use their personal cars to drive for not just one, but multiple gig economy companies. Also, electric vehicles tend to be more expensive than gasoline vehicles, even though they cost less to fuel and maintain. That high up-front cost can make it challenging for many drivers, who typically operate on incredibly tight margins, to make the switch.
New York is not the first government to mandate an all-electric passenger transport fleet. California adopted new rules in 2021 that require rideshare companies to electrify their fleets by 2030, a few years before the state bans the sale of new gasoline-powered cars outright.
