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Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios
There's good news and bad news when it comes to curbing carbon emissions from Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing services, courtesy of new analysis from the Rocky Mountain Institute.
Why it matters: Ride-hailing creates new emissions challenges.
- A number of analyses show that it's adding to congestion and cannibalizing trips that otherwise would have happened via mass transit or other low-carbon means (like feet!).
- But, steps to electrify ride-hailing will have spillover effects that boost EV adoption more broadly.
What they found: Current market and tech trends won't do the trick when it comes to getting the industry to go electric on a timeline consistent with aggressive emissions cuts.
- "We find that, despite rapidly reducing battery costs, ridehailing electrification is not inevitable by 2030. EVs face many barriers in ridehailing applications, aside from just high up-front prices."
Yes, but: The good news is that it's hardly an impossible nut to crack, RMI concludes, although it will take a village that includes state and local policymakers, utilities and big automakers.
How it works: RMI recommends a wide array of steps to make EV ownership for ride-hailing drivers more accessible and competitive with gasoline vehicles. They include...
- Improving access to home charging, via steps like power company incentives and building code changes. That makes EVs more competitive for drivers who'll miss fewer rides while charging.
- Implementing programs that lower costs of public charging and encouraging the buildout of public charging infrastructure.
- Reducing any "barriers of entry" to buying new and used EVs, such as "scrap and replace" incentives, as well as wider adoption of EV rental programs.
Catch up fast: Uber wants EVs to account for 100% of its rides in American, Canadian and European cities by 2030.
- And Lyft has vowed to have 100% of rides from its platform come from zero-emissions vehicles by 2030.
- But both companies acknowledge that the targets rely on outside policy changes to succeed.