Uber abandons pledge to hit Labour’s electric car target

Uber has abandoned its 2030 net zero pledge as its chief executive signalled that drivers and governments were turning their backs on electric cars.Dara Khosrowshahi warned on Tuesday that its goal to switch to an all-electric fleet in major UK, US and other European cities by 2030 was “just not going to happen”.It is the first time the Uber boss has admitted it will miss the target, which was set at the start of the decade.Uber has previously announced that London would be its first net-zero city in 2025, although the latest figures show it is less than halfway towards meeting that goal.Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Khosrowshahi insisted that Uber would continue to increase the share of EVs on the app.However, he added: “Our EV target of being all-electric by 2030 – that’s just not going to happen based on everything that’s happening in society.”The company warned last year that the target would be missed unless companies and countries did more to support the switch, saying: “High upfront EV costs, limited charging access, and inconsistent policy support continue to slow adoption.”A series of tax raids on EV owners has also reduced incentives for drivers to ditch petrol and diesel cars.Rachel Reeves announced a new pay-per-mile tax in the Budget that the Government’s official tax-and-spending watchdog warned would crush demand.Since making the pledge in 2020, electricity prices have surged and governments have pulled back on subsidies for EVs, making it harder for drivers to ditch petrol vehicles.At the end of last year, Sir Sadiq Khan started applying the congestion charge to electric cars, a major blow for Uber’s goal of having all of its drivers use EVs.The company said last year that 40pc of its journeys in London were electric, compared to just 15pc in Europe and 9pc in the US.Donald Trump has also pulled subsidies for electric cars in America. Uber itself has cut bonuses for drivers using EVs.The company’s website continues to state a goal of 100pc of rides in Canada, Europe and the US being zero emissions.Mr Khosrowshahi said he continued to believe that autonomous vehicles would largely be electric in the future, as he suggested that robot-taxis without a human driver could be on London’s roads by the end of the year.He said: “I think one of the benefits of autonomous vehicles is that the vehicles ... all happen to be electric. So the autonomous revolution will also be an electric revolution, and we think that’s a great thing.”He added: “We’re talking to London, and we would love London to be a part of robo taxis, either later this year or the next year.“London is definitely leaning in, and it’s terrific to see the UK generally in on AI and the transformation there; the talent based there is excellent.”