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Lyft plans to shift ride services to 100% electric by end of 2030

Lyft plans to shift ride services to 100% electric by end of 2030
Lyft plans to shift ride services to 100% electric by end of 2030

Lyft, an American ridesharing company, is reportedly committing to replace its existing vehicles completely by electric counterparts by 2030 end.

To achieve this vision, the company will need the support from carmakers and policymakers, a robust network of EV charging system, as well as drivers’ cooperation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the ride-hailing companies due to the social distancing guidelines imposed by the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus. For instance, Uber Technologies laid off 6,700 employees, while Lyft furloughed its employees by more than 1,000.

John Zimmer, co-founder of Lyft, has stated that the pandemic has, however, provided the company to reevaluate the growth opportunities. He believes that the new transition to electric will enable it to be better positioned for efficient business operations post the coronavirus crisis.

Sources familiar with the matter have stated that ride-hailing services contribute 50% higher greenhouse gas emissions as compared to traveling by the average car. The rules to reduce the emission of these GHGs from the ride-hailing services are expected to be rolled out in California. Adoption of EVs will also reduce the need for a large amount of energy, lower CO2 emissions, and cut air pollution.

Lyft had also made this sustainability move in 2018 by announcing that it will offset the emission from all rides across the globe. With the new target, it can discontinue this program and focus on fully going electric.

The company has reportedly outlined the new approach with a focus on leveraging the position to negotiate various discounts from carmakers, pushing for policies to increase a wide EVs adoption, and entering partnership deals to expand EVs charging network in Canada and the United States.

EVs are more expensive than traditional cars as well as take a longer time to refuel. However, Lyft has reportedly stated that this adoption will lead to lower operating costs owing to its simple maintenance and cheaper fuel.

Source credit:

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/garage/lyft-says-all-rides-will-be-in-electric-cars-by-end-2030

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Omkar Patwardhan

Omkar Patwardhan started his professional career in the hospitality industry. Having nurtured a deep-sated passion for words however, he found his way into content writing and now pens down articles for theresearchprocess.com and a few other websites, spanning the sectors of business, finance, and technology./