Rideshare vehicles are widely believed to have larger carbon footprints than personal vehicles, so electrifying them seems likely to deliver greater emissions reductions than electrifying personal passenger cars. The Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), in collaboration with General Motors, recently released an insight brief that explains why the electrification of transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft is crucial to accelerating the transition to EVs.

The new report, Racing to Accelerate Electric Vehicle Adoption: Decarbonizing Transportation with Ridehailing, leverages 101 million miles of real-world data from General Motors to show that electric ride-hailing vehicles can not only effectively replace ICE vehicles, but will also create catalytic opportunities for the electrification of other transportation sectors by overcoming barriers facing consumers and fleets.

The brief identifies three key barriers to electrifying ride-hailing vehicles—technological capability; financial competitiveness; and charging infrastructure—and suggest strategies for overcoming these obstacles.

“Electrifying TNCs has significant, direct environmental benefits and an equally critical benefit for the larger market that comes from the public charging infrastructure and consumer exposure to EVs,” said EJ Klock-McCook, Principal at RMI.

“Urgent and collaborative action from key stakeholders is needed to drive to a climate-aligned goal of deploying over 50 million electric vehicles in the next 10 years,” said RMI Managing Director Britta Gross. Ride-hailing can be that sector that drives widespread EV awareness and moves the market toward an electrification tipping point that is irreversible.”

Source: Rocky Mountain Institute