Renault, Nissan, and Uber, have agreed to a partnership that will bring EV cars to Uber drivers in European capitals. More specifically, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Lisbon, London, and Madrid, which account for about 80% of Uber’s European-based business. The plan is to sell Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe cars to Uber drivers at a discounted price, so as to create a compelling incentive. The discount hasn’t been determined with certainty yet, but it will definitely be measured in several thousands of Euros.
Right now, Uber passengers (customers) in London pay an additional 15 pennies called the “Clean Air Fee”, which goes to supporting the company launch an electrification program in the British city. There are 45,000 Uber cars in London, so replacing the entire fleet with EVs is hard, but still, one has to start from somewhere. This is why this new program will begin from London immediately, while Paris will be the next city to get the program by the end of 2020.
The goal is to extend the program to all of the aforementioned capitals by the end of 2025, by which time Renault and Nissan hope to have sold tens of thousands of their little electric models. The two automakers are partners, and members of a strong alliance, so this is not a competition between them but rather a joint venture.
Although small cars, both the Zoe and the Leaf offer an adequate nominal range to be considered suitable for this purpose. Leaf’s 40kWh battery offers a range of 235 miles, while Zoe’s larger 52kWh cell is good for 250 miles. As for the time needed for re-charging before you’re ready to head back to the street, that would be about nine hours for the Zoe using a standard (7kWh) wall box, and 7.5 hours for the Leaf.
