By Michael Elkins
Roughly one year has passed since Uber (NYSE:UBER) and Hertz Global Holdings (OTC:HTZGQ) Inc (NASDAQ:HTZ) launched a partnership to supply electric Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) vehicles to drivers of the ride-hailing company. An analyst from within Uber has published a report highlighting the early findings of the partnership.
According to Uber analyst, Rainer Lempart, since the program was launched in October of 2021, Teslas rented through Hertz have now completed over 5 million trips and traveled more than 40 million fully electric miles in over 30 different U.S. markets.
However, the primary purpose of this partnership for Uber is to push the company towards its goal of achieving a fully zero-emission platform by 2030 in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
Lempart wrote that “As of August 1, 2022, over 19.9k metric tonnes of on-trip CO2 tailpipe emissions have been avoided across the United States. This is equivalent to avoiding roughly 2.1 million gallons of gasoline.”
The partnership has also coincided with a large growth in the percentage of zero emission vehicle use across the Uber platform. In Q2 2022 ZEVs accounted for more than 2.5% of on-trip miles in the U.S., up from 0.34% from the previous year. Before the program was launched, 95% of Uber drivers had never driven an EV before, and 77% now believe they will either stay with the program or purchase an electric vehicle. In a survey by Uber, 94% of all drivers reported a positive experience driving a Hertz Tesla vehicle on the Uber platform.
The report falls short in detailing the programs effects on Uber’s profitability within the program. The report also fails to determine if drivers in program were able to attract more rides than their combustion engine counterparts. However, the program is achieving positive results in sustainability, driver satisfaction, and “equitable access,” according to the report.
Shares of UBER and HTZ are down 0.27% and 1.54% respectively in mid-day trading on Thursday, while shares of TSLA are up 0.38%.