While announcing the all of the vehicles that will be used on its ride-hailing and rental car platform will be electric by 2030, the United States based ride hailing company Lyft has said that it would not provide any direct financial assistance to drivers to convert from gas powered cars to electric ones.
The rival of Uber in North America will instead lobby with its competitors, lawmakers and automakers so that drivers find it much easier to switch to electric vehicles trough offering of financial incentives. This was said by Lyft executives during a call.
A scale large enough to impact policy change has been reached by the company, said John Zimmer, Lyft’s co-founder and president.
It would aggressively promote and help drivers access incentive funds said the company in a statement whose fleet of vehicles currently have just about 1 per cent of electric vehicles. “If policymakers do their part in the next few years, EVs should reach cost parity with gasoline vehicles by mid-decade,” the company said.
Calls on Lyft and larger rival Uber Technologies Inc to electrify their fleets of vehicles have been made for some time by environmental activists. About 50 per cent more carbon emissions than private car trips results from ride-hail services, found a study published in February.
Rival Uber has till now not made a blanket commitment to electrification but has been engaged to partially subsidize electric vehicle purchases by driver sin some markets such as in London.
While the one-time cost of acquiring an electric vehicle is higher than that for a gas powered vehicle, the comparable costs of operations and maintenance of electric cars over time is lower than gas powered ones.
In the future, there might even be a decline in the prices of rides on a batter powered vehicle, Lyft said.
About 80 per cent of the drivers of Lyft have full or part-time jobs and offer rides to supplement their income, the company had said previously. Leasing companies are also used by many ride hailing companies to rent a vehicle and there are concerns about the wear and tear to their cars.
Rental services are offered by Lyft for its drivers and consumers through its own platform. The company said that it would buy electric vehicles for that fleet but said nothing about the number of such new electric vehicles.
The company was also in active discussions with carmakers on electrification, Lyft said without providing any further details in this matter.
(Source:www.nytimes.com)
The rival of Uber in North America will instead lobby with its competitors, lawmakers and automakers so that drivers find it much easier to switch to electric vehicles trough offering of financial incentives. This was said by Lyft executives during a call.
A scale large enough to impact policy change has been reached by the company, said John Zimmer, Lyft’s co-founder and president.
It would aggressively promote and help drivers access incentive funds said the company in a statement whose fleet of vehicles currently have just about 1 per cent of electric vehicles. “If policymakers do their part in the next few years, EVs should reach cost parity with gasoline vehicles by mid-decade,” the company said.
Calls on Lyft and larger rival Uber Technologies Inc to electrify their fleets of vehicles have been made for some time by environmental activists. About 50 per cent more carbon emissions than private car trips results from ride-hail services, found a study published in February.
Rival Uber has till now not made a blanket commitment to electrification but has been engaged to partially subsidize electric vehicle purchases by driver sin some markets such as in London.
While the one-time cost of acquiring an electric vehicle is higher than that for a gas powered vehicle, the comparable costs of operations and maintenance of electric cars over time is lower than gas powered ones.
In the future, there might even be a decline in the prices of rides on a batter powered vehicle, Lyft said.
About 80 per cent of the drivers of Lyft have full or part-time jobs and offer rides to supplement their income, the company had said previously. Leasing companies are also used by many ride hailing companies to rent a vehicle and there are concerns about the wear and tear to their cars.
Rental services are offered by Lyft for its drivers and consumers through its own platform. The company said that it would buy electric vehicles for that fleet but said nothing about the number of such new electric vehicles.
The company was also in active discussions with carmakers on electrification, Lyft said without providing any further details in this matter.
(Source:www.nytimes.com)
