Uber and Lyft will be required to electrify their fleets in NYC under a new policy announced by Mayor Adams on Thursday.All of the city’s 100,000 Uber and Lyft vehicles must be running on clean, electric power by 2030, Mayor Eric Adams announced at his State of the City address on Thursday.
and establish 315 EV charging stations across the five boroughs. In his speech, the mayor said the city would encourage drivers writ large to switch to EVs by investing in charging infrastructure all over the city.increase in the city’s for-hire vehicle cap Spokespersons for both Uber and Lyft said that the companies are aligned with the mayor’s policy and plan to work with the city to meet the carbon emissions-reducing goal.Photo by Dean Moses
Lyft also expressed support for the new policy, while highlighting incentives it’s proffering to drivers to make the switch to EVs, including a $150 weekly bonus for completing 50 rides in an EV. A press release sent out by the mayor’s office noted that 100% electrification “will be achieved with no new costs for individual drivers.”
Bhairavi Desai — who as executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance represents 27,000 drivers in the Big Apple, half of them working for Uber and Lyft — isn’t optimistic that the costs of eliminating the company’s carbon emissions won’t be borne by their hardworking operators.