Uber Eyes Fleet of Electric Vehicles, To Buy Tesla Cars

Uber to Buy Tesla Cars: The ride-hailing service is collaborating with Hertz, a US-based rental car firm that just announced the purchase of 100,000 Tesla cars.

According to sources, the decision comes as auto firms and transit providers throughout the world face governmental pressure to phase out gas-powered vehicles in favour of zero-emission vehicles.

California, the country's largest car market, has mandated that ride-hailing businesses like Uber and Lyft use electric vehicles in 90% of their fleets by 2030.

Uber has historically provided discounts on car rentals to non-owned vehicle drivers, with Uber and Hertz collaborating on such a scheme since 2016.

However, until today, they have never worked together to rent out a single car to drivers, according to the article.

Uber drivers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Washington, DC may rent a Tesla Model 3 from Hertz for $334 per week, including maintenance and insurance, beginning November 1.

Uber claims that once the service is up and running, the weekly price will drop to $299 or less. In the next weeks, the initiative will be rolled out across the country, with the goal of having all 50,000 Teslas on Uber's network by 2023.

With a weekly charge of $334, it may be tough to entice drivers to join the programme, but Uber is convinced that drivers will see the value in fuel savings and less maintenance.

Meanwhile, the market capitalization of Elon Musk's electric vehicle firm has surpassed $1 trillion for the first time.

After Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet, Tesla is the sixth US business to reach the $1 trillion mark.

Its shares climbed to a new all-time high after crossing $950 during trade, a gain of more than 9%.

The protest occurred after Hertz, a US-based rental car firm, said that as part of an ambitious strategy to electrify its fleet, it had ordered 100,000 Tesla vehicles (worth at least $4.2 billion) by the end of 2022.

A new EV charging infrastructure will be installed across the company's global activities as part of the move.