The roads of Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, andPune will see a total of above 1,000 EVs for the purposes of cab. The servicewill be provided by Uber and it will hire the services of an electric fleetoperator Lithium Urban Technologies.
Sedan is the vehicle of choice and more than 100 EVs are alreadyin service. In a projection that bodes well for the environment, theride-hailing company intends to scale up to 2,000 EVs.
"After our partnerships with Yulu, Mahindra and SUNMobility, this is our fourth partnership in this space and Uber will alwaysremain committed to providing smarter mobility, building greener cities andcreating healthier lives," said Prabhjeet Singh, President, Uber India andSouth Asia said.
Lithium's charging hubs in the selected cities have thecapacity to charge multiple cars and buses simultaneously.
While a fast charger can charge a sedan in 90 minutes, aslow charger can do that in 8 to 9 hours.
"Our partnership with Uber has the potential tosignificantly add to the number of electric kilometers covered by cars in everycity. Electric vehicles are particularly well-suited to the shared economy, andthat's why we're seeing their early adoption, most noticeably in fleets,"said Ashwin Mahesh, Co-Founder and CEO, Lithium Urban Technologies.
According to the 2019 ‘IQAir; rankings, 14 of the 20 mostpolluted cities in the world are in India.
Exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution contributed toover 1.2 million deaths in India in 2017, according to the State of Global AirReport.
Uber recently announced a global commitment to make allrides on its platform 100 per cent emission-free by 2040 through zero-emissionvehicles and the integration of public transport and micro-mobility.
A market leader in sustainable mobility solutions, Lithiumwas established in 2014 to encourage an environment-friendly mobility solutionfor corporates.
Lithium runs its over 1,000 electric fleet of hatchbacks,sedans, SUVs and buses across 10 cities in India with its own charginginfrastructure of more than 500 fast and slow chargers and charging hubs.