Future rideshare services in Australia are about to get much cleaner with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) backing vehicle subscription provider Splend with $20 million to finance around 500 additional EVs for use by Uber drivers and other ride-share services.
The new funding was announced on Wednesday at the launch of the Parliamentary Friends of EVs group in Canberra, on the lawns in front on Parliament House. Co-chairs of the new group Michelle Ananda-Rajah MP and Monique Ryan MP were joined by Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen at the launch.
The $20 million announcement is the first time the CEFC has backed a clean energy solution specifically targeting rideshare drivers, who can cover up to 60,000 km per year.
Splend says Australian private vehicle drivers drive around 11,000 km annually, making the decarbonisation impact of switching from ICE ride share vehicles to EVs up to four or five times higher.
Fleet vehicles make up to 52 per cent of vehicle sales in Australia, and have the potential to significantly contribute to the electrification of the transport sector.
Splend began its initial rollout of 500 subscription EVs for rideshare services last year and is now the single largest EV operator in Australia. The new CEFC funding will enable Splend to double its fleet by the end of the year to around 1,000 EVs.
“Since then, our EVs have travelled over 6.2 million kilometres and saved over ~1000 tonnes of CO2 tailpipe emissions,” said Splend CEO Chris King.
“With over 100,000 rideshare vehicles across Australia, of which only one per cent are EVs, transporting millions of Australians every week, the immediate priority is to focus on the decarbonation of this segment.”
According to Splend, rideshare drivers will be able to enter a flexible short or long term EV subscription contracts. Splend estimates that drivers will save up to $100 per week on vehicle, fuel and servicing costs.
“Decarbonising Australia’s car fleet and transitioning fleet vehicles to EVs represent an important opportunity to further accelerate the decarbonisation of the transport sector,” said CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth.
“High kilometre drivers like those in the rideshare services industry can lead the electrification of Australia’s transport sector, which will also require increased investment in our charging infrastructure to meet demand as momentum in the transition to EVs builds.”
As a part of the CEFC investment, Splend will share battery performance and second-hand realisation values for vehicles for the finance fleet in Australia. Data on resale value of EVs will make it easier for fleet operators and fleet financiers to price operating leases and similar products.
“Uber Green” and subscription EVs key to decarbonising rideshare
Last week Uber launched its new Uber Green service in Australia which gives rideshare customers the option to select a zero or low-emissions ride – either via a full battery electric vehicle or a hybrid. The Uber Green service comes at no extra cost to riders when compared to the standard Uber X service.
Head of Uber Dominic Taylor told The Driven that Uber will be 100% electric by 2040.
“If we’re going to do that, we’re gonna have to stop onboarding petrol cars by 2030. And to put that in perspective, in 2020 less than half a percent of our fleet were EVs,” said Taylor.
“Last month that was two per cent. We’ve invested 30 million dollars in halving the service fee that Uber [EV] drivers pay.
“We survey drivers and a large majority, two thirds, tell us that they want to drive an EV but the majority don’t think they have the financial means because of the high upfront cost. We think that fuel efficiency standards are a key unlock getting more low cost EVs here.”
Last month The Driven interviewed technology research Tony Seba who said that the convergence of rideshare technology with electric vehicles will be a complete gamechanger for transportation.
Seba says that electric vehicles will do around 500,000 miles (800,000 km) compared to ICE vehicles that get around 140,000 miles (225,000 km) over their lifetime.
This means that EVs will last 4-5 times longer than ICE vehicles making them the perfect option for high milage rideshare applications.
“People are going to be buying vehicles a lot less often.” said Seba.
“And soon enough you’re gonna see million mile EVs. And what that means is that over 10 years you’re going to need just one EV for 10 petrol cars,”
Daniel Bleakley is a clean technology researcher and advocate with a background in engineering and business. He has a strong interest in electric vehicles, renewable energy, manufacturing and public policy.