Rideshare company Uber Australia has announced the national expansion of its Comfort Electric product, offering rideshare with driver partners in fully electric vehicles.
“Uber Green has been the fastest growing product I’ve ever been involved in, with Aussies notching up more than half a million trips across hybrid and electric vehicles in one week of last year alone,” Uber Australia and New Zealand managing director Dom Taylor said.
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“The demand shows customers want more rides in more electric vehicles, and we’re helping driver partners plug into that demand with a new premium Comfort Electric product that fills a gap in the market for environmentally conscious riders that want a bit more luxury with their green ride.”
The Comfort Electric product is visible now for Uber One customers before it scales nationally to all Uber account holders on January 29.
Uber is also partnering with Kia Australia to launch complimentary Kia Electric rides to and from the Australian Open Tennis until the tournament decider.
Uber One members will have the chance to unlock complimentary rides (capped at $100) in Kia’s newly launched EV9 vehicles alongside their critically acclaimed EV6 vehicles.
Kia, who is also transporting the athletes to the tournament, will loan 30 of their top of the range EVs to driver partners to help Australian fans arrive in style.
Uber has also made more places available in the service fee reduction program, exclusively for driver partners in Victoria. This means hundreds of driver partners who switch to electric vehicles will be eligible to have their service fees reduced by 50%, up to $3,500 per financial year, until June 2025.
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Uber One members will only see a Kia Electric trip in their app if they are travelling to or from within five kilometres of the stadium and if there is a vehicle available at that time.
Riders will not be charged for the trip (up to $100) but the driver partners will receive 100% of the fare, with Kia covering the cost of the ride.