Uber's bet on electric vehicles

The past year has been challenging for electric vehicles. In the first quarter of 2026, US EV sales were about 27 per cent below their level in the first quarter of last year. But the ride-hailing industry still sees a future that is electric, autonomous, and shared, and is placing a multi-billion dollar bet on it. Ride-hailing services such as Uber could be one of the key sectors supporting the electrification of road transport in the years to come.

In this episode, host Ed Crooks is joined by Amy Myers Jaffe, director of NYU's Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab, and two guests from Uber. Andrew Cornelia is the company’s global head of electrification and sustainability, and Samarth Kedrawal is its global head of fleet and autonomous vehicles. Andrew and Samarth make the case for why the shift away from the internal combustion engine as the dominant technology for road transport is a question of when, not if. And the fuel price shock resulting from the conflict in the Middle East may be shortening the timeline.

Uber's EV strategy is about more than just going green, Andrew says. In markets where the economics work, including London, Paris, and São Paulo, EV drivers are earning more and spending less, and riders are consistently rating the electric experience among the best of Uber’s services. Charging remains the biggest barrier, partly because the infrastructure has been chronically underbuilt. Finding a free public charger can be a problem, especially for the drivers who need them most because they live in urban centres without access to home charging. It can also be expensive: public charging can account for up to 40% of the total cost of ownership of an EV.

Uber is now signing agreements with charging network operators to underwrite new infrastructure in exchange for preferential pricing for its drivers. The company is also helping drivers spread the upfront cost of home charger installation, and reports that the switch is saving some drivers close to $8,000 a year.

Autonomous vehicles (Avs) are even more capital-intensive. Samarth describes an AV operation that in power demand terms looks like a series of small data centres: sites drawing three to eight megawatts, using tightly sequenced charging algorithms to maximise utilisation.

Like hyperscalers waiting on grid connections for their data centres, Uber is in some markets using gas to provide a temporary power supply, bridging the gap while it waits for the utility to wire it up. The utilities have been willing partners, Samarth says, but the demand for charging infrastructure is significant. The conversations are becoming more complex, as EV charging lines up alongside data centres to queue for connections to the same distribution networks.

The conversation also opens up a longer-term question: could a large enough fleet of parked autonomous vehicles one day act as a virtual power plant, selling stored energy back to the grid during peak demand? The answer is yes, eventually. But the immediate priority is more basic: making sure there are enough chargers available so the cars can actually turn a profit today.

The episode closes with a discussion of Chinese EVs and what trade barriers are really costing consumers. Andrew says that EV adoption among Uber drivers is moving fastest in markets where low-cost Chinese vehicles are available. Latin America, Brazil in particular, is the next major frontier. In the US, the lack of those low-cost EVs is a barrier to making the economics work for Uber drivers.

Both guests believe the industry will be bigger, the cost per mile lower, and the share of electric miles far higher. The direction is not in doubt, they say. The question is how fast the infrastructure, the policy environment, and the economics can move to meet it.

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