It’s a logical convergence of three tech trends: Uber, EVs and China. The pioneering ride-sharing service, which has already been testing EVs in Chicago and Prague, has announced that it will add ten PHEVs to its fleet in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
The new car service, called UberGREEN, will use Guangzhou Automobile’s Trumpchi GA5 REV, a plug-in hybrid sedan that was launched at the end of 2014.
A fleet of ten PHEVs spreading the electric gospel sounds like a promising start, but it’s small dumplings by Chinese standards. In April, the city of Wuhan announced plans to put 1,100 electric taxis into service, including ten Tesla S85 sedans. Last May, the city of Hangzhou placed an order for 1,000 electric taxis (and 2,000 buses) from BYD.
Sources: VentureBeat, Tech in Asia, CarNewsChina, Uber