Ride-hailing service targets 100 per cent electric vehicles on its platform as it joins EV100 initiative
Lyft has announced that all drivers on its ride-hailing platform will need to shift over to electric vehicles within the next decade, as it became the latest major company to join the global EV100 initiative.
The US firm yesterday committed to ensuring its ride-hailing app - which currently offers taxi services from around two million drivers across North America - would only offer rides from 100 per cent electric or zero emission vehicles by 2030.
By working with its drivers to transition to EVs, Lyft said it had the potential to avoid tens of millions of metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, in addition to delivering huge cost savings for drivers by negating the need to buy more than a billion gallons of fuel.
While the upfront cost of EVs today remains higher than for traditional fossil fuel cars, Lyft said that with battery costs continuing to decline it expected zero emission models to be more economical for rideshare drivers than petrol and diesel vehicles by the mid-2020s.
Some of its drivers who have already switched to EVs on its Express Drive service were currently saving an average of $50-70 per week on fuel costs alone, it explained.
"Now more than ever, we need to work together to create cleaner, healthier, and more equitable communities," said John Zimmer, co-founder and president of Lyft. "Success breeds success, and if we do this right, it creates a path for others. If other rideshare and delivery companies, automakers and rental car companies make this shift, it can be the catalyst for transforming transportation as a whole."
Since 2018 all journeys taken via Lyft's app have been 'carbon neutral' through the firm's offsetting programme, but it said it had "now reached a scale that requires us to do more" and would therefore be ending offsetting in order to focus on the transition to 100 per cent EVs.
"While this means net emissions from cars used on the Lyft platform may increase in the short term, shifting to 100 per cent EVs will lead to dramatically lower emissions over the long term," explained the firm, adding it would be working with the Environmental Defense Fund to deliver on its pledge.
Helen Clarkson, CEO of green business NGO The Climate Group, which spearheads the EV100 initiative, said Lyft's "bold commitment" would have implications beyond its own ride-hailing platform.
"By working with drivers to electrify an estimated more than two million vehicles over the next ten years, Lyft is not only sending a clear signal to policy makers and manufacturers, but will also allow millions of passengers and drivers the chance to experience the benefits of clean transport," she said. "A ride-sharing platform such as Lyft making this commitment shows that electric can be the new normal."
In related news, Citroën earlier this week revealed the first images for its new all-electric model for the hatchback market, as the car brand continues its EV push.
Full details are set to be announced for the ë-C4 - the fifth electric model to be unveiled by the firm in 2020 - at the car's launch on 30 June, with both petrol and diesel versions also set to be made available, the firm said.