A year after Uber started its Tesla rental program, the San Francisco-based company known for its ride-hailing service listed some concrete benefits from its operations.
The Uber report cited the tangible milestones it has achieved, such as 5 million trips, and 40 million miles, preventing some 19.9k metric tonnes of carbon emissions (roughly 2.1 million gallons of gas were not burned).
Success
The report, published by its in-house analyst (via Teslarati), highlighted the sustainability side, how the drivers had adjusted to the program, and equitability.
Uber, the report said, enumerated some success, but it did not mention how the program has impacted the company.
Equity Side
While the report cited the benefits each Uber driver gets from the program with its suite of perks and incentives, it also highlighted the equity side.
Electric vehicles in the United States were seen as the natural domain of the middle class and upper segments. In fact, the EV market is heavily slanted toward car buyers with higher incomes.
But with the program, the report noted, EVs have become a common vehicle of diverse income brackets tilting towards the average car market in the US.
The Tesla rental program and the partnership that ensued started in October 2021. At the end of August, in bold strokes, the report emphasized the mileage and its contribution to curbing greenhouse gas emissions every time a customer hails an EV ride.
How About Uber?
The report was rich in details about the market it has proudly served, especially the equity side of it, and the drivers that used the EVs.
Uber's program has achieved unimaginable so-called EV implementation goals when the company's CEO sets a deadline for its drivers to shift to EVs, as reported by Teslarati.
In fact, 77 percent of Uber drivers had made up their minds about EVs. These drivers decided to either stay in the Uber program or buy an EV. When the program started, about 95 percent of the drivers have not driven EVs before.
But the report did not attempt to explain in detail the effect of the program on Uber itself.
Uber had been battling profitability issues as well. The ride-hailing company reported in August its record revenue stressing the outlook for growth with more drivers and couriers using the platform more than ever.
In its report, according to the New York Times, Uber sounded to have hurdled the economic hump due to the pandemic to a position of profitability.
$8 Million Revenue, $2 Billion Investment Loss
The company posted $8 million in revenue, or a 105 percent increase from its financial position a year before. This growth was fueled partly by its promising ride-hailing business coupled with an increase of 37 percent in its food delivery service.
Although it had lost some $2 billion of investments, the company had outperformed the projections by analysts.
The in-house report has not touched on this aspect. It did not also give a picture of Uber's ride-hailing business with the possibility of cheaper transportation.
Discussing these concerns in the report might even encourage more companies to join the EV transportation sector.
