Latest news with #Tinucci
Boston Globe
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Boston Globe
Uber drivers are now more concerned about charging than EV cost
Advertisement Uber does have an ace up its sleeve in mitigating this issue. Last year, the company hired Rebecca Tinucci, the former head of charging infrastructure at Tesla Inc., to oversee its electrification efforts. Nine months into the job, she's brokered a partnership the company expects will improve charging access for 55,000 drivers in London, Boston, and Phoenix, and is rolling out a tool to help 40 cities decide on where to locate their next public plugs. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'We've got to get to work,' Tinucci said in an interview. 'As comfortable as I am in the charging space, I fully recognize how difficult it is to do charging well.' Uber is partnering with London, Boston and Phoenix as part of C40 Cities, a group affiliated with Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP. Advertisement In addition to contributing technical support, research and policy advocacy to those three cities, the company is launching what it calls an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Estimator tool that will project future demand for EV charging from Uber drivers. The company is rolling out the service to cities covering almost 60 percent of EV drivers on the Uber platform. The tool is more than just in Uber's self-interest. The name of the game for charging-station operators is driving high utilization. Drivers doing pickups and drop-offs around the clock are just the sort of customer operators are looking for. 'There's an incredible base of demand there that we at Uber should be able to rally in support of developing more infrastructure,' Tinucci said. Uber already has seen this play out. Three years ago, the company invested £5 million ($6.73 million) toward installing 700 EV chargers across north and east London. Its chargers in the borough of Newham are being used at more than twice the national average rate. 'The challenge at Tesla was kind of single-focused around Tesla vehicles,' Tinucci said of her previous role. 'What brought me to Uber was the potential for impact. We have the largest EV fleet in the world, and we're just getting started.'
Los Angeles Times
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
Uber drivers Are now more concerned about charging than EV cost
When it comes to convincing millions of drivers to get behind the wheel of electric vehicles, Uber Technologies Inc. has good news and bad news. First, the positive: Prices are coming down to levels at which EV cost is no longer the top issue preventing drivers in the US and UK from going electric. This is a first in the four years Uber has been surveying drivers. The challenge will be tackling the new No. 1 concern — charging difficulties — especially for a company that depends on drivers who typically lack access to home charging. Just over a third of Uber's current EV drivers in the US have a dedicated home charger. The share is even lower in Europe, at 27% in the UK and 13% in the Netherlands. Uber does have an ace up its sleeve in mitigating this issue. Last year, the company hired Rebecca Tinucci, the former head of charging infrastructure at Tesla Inc., to oversee its electrification efforts. Nine months into the job, she's brokered a partnership the company expects will improve charging access for 55,000 drivers in London, Boston and Phoenix, and is rolling out a tool to help 40 cities decide on where to locate their next public plugs. 'We've got to get to work,' Tinucci said in an interview. 'As comfortable as I am in the charging space, I fully recognize how difficult it is to do charging well.' Uber is partnering with London, Boston and Phoenix as part of C40 Cities, a group affiliated with Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP. In addition to contributing technical support, research and policy advocacy to those three cities, the company is launching what it calls an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Estimator tool that will project future demand for EV charging from Uber drivers. The company is rolling out the service to cities covering almost 60% of EV drivers on the Uber platform. The tool is more than just in Uber's self-interest. The name of the game for charging-station operators is driving high utilization. Drivers doing pickups and drop-offs around the clock are just the sort of customer operators are looking for. 'There's an incredible base of demand there that we at Uber should be able to rally in support of developing more infrastructure,' Tinucci said. Uber already has seen this play out. Three years ago, the company invested £5 million ($6.73 million) toward installing 700 EV chargers across north and east London. Its chargers in the borough of Newham are being used at more than twice the national average rate. 'The challenge at Tesla was kind of single-focused around Tesla vehicles,' Tinucci said of her previous role. 'What brought me to Uber was the potential for impact. We have the largest EV fleet in the world, and we're just getting started.' Trudell and Lung write for Bloomberg.
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Business Standard
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Business Standard
EV cost no longer a top concern as Uber drivers worry about charging access
When it comes to convincing millions of drivers to get behind the wheel of electric vehicles, Uber Technologies Inc. has good news and bad news. First, the positive: Prices are coming down to levels at which EV cost is no longer the top issue preventing drivers in the US and UK from going electric. This is a first in the four years Uber has been surveying drivers. The challenge will be tackling the new No. 1 concern — charging difficulties — especially for a company that depends on drivers who typically lack access to home charging. Just over a third of Uber's current EV drivers in the US have a dedicated home charger. The share is even lower in Europe, at 27 per cent in the UK and 13 per cent in the Netherlands. Uber does have an ace up its sleeve in mitigating this issue. Last year, the company hired Rebecca Tinucci, the former head of charging infrastructure at Tesla Inc., to oversee its electrification efforts. Nine months into the job, she's brokered a partnership the company expects will improve charging access for 55,000 drivers in London, Boston and Phoenix, and is rolling out a tool to help 40 cities decide on where to locate their next public plugs. 'We've got to get to work,' Tinucci said in an interview. 'As comfortable as I am in the charging space, I fully recognize how difficult it is to do charging well.' Uber is partnering with London, Boston and Phoenix as part of C40 Cities, a group affiliated with Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP. In addition to contributing technical support, research and policy advocacy to those three cities, the company is launching what it calls an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Estimator tool that will project future demand for EV charging from Uber drivers. The company is rolling out the service to cities covering almost 60 per cent of EV drivers on the Uber platform. The tool is more than just in Uber's self-interest. The name of the game for charging-station operators is driving high utilization. Drivers doing pickups and drop-offs around the clock are just the sort of customer operators are looking for. 'There's an incredible base of demand there that we at Uber should be able to rally in support of developing more infrastructure,' Tinucci said. Uber already has seen this play out. Three years ago, the company invested £5 million ($6.73 million) toward installing 700 EV chargers across north and east London. Its chargers in the borough of Newham are being used at more than twice the national average rate. 'The challenge at Tesla was kind of single-focused around Tesla vehicles,' Tinucci said of her previous role. 'What brought me to Uber was the potential for impact. We have the largest EV fleet in the world, and we're just getting started.'
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
'Big challenges': Uber wants more government help shifting drivers to EVs
Uber's (UBER) global head of electrification and sustainability says the ride-hailing giant faces 'big challenges' in its push for 100 per cent zero emissions rides in Canada, the United States and Europe by 2030. Rebecca Tinucci says the San Francisco-based company needs to forge a 'really tight public-private partnership' with Ottawa and provincial governments in order to make it happen. In the first three months of 2025, Uber says just 9.1 per cent of 'on trip' miles in Canada and the U.S. were completed in zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). Earlier this month, Tinucci announced Uber would not fully achieve its 2025 electrification goals due to "high upfront EV costs, limited charging access, and inconsistent policy support" from governments. According to data from Statistics Canada released on Wednesday, ZEVs comprised 6.5 per cent of total new motor vehicles sold in March. Sales tumbled 47 per cent year-over-year, adding to a 41 per cent decline in February. 'I know it's very challenging,' Tinucci told an audience at the EV & Charging Expo 2025 event in Toronto on Wednesday. 'We have very aggressive goals at Uber around being a zero-emissions platform. Here in Canada, it's 2030.' Uber announced its commitment to become a zero-emissions platform by 2040 back in 2020, including the 2030 target for Canada, the U.S., and Europe. 'To be clear, it is a North Star, and we've said in the beginning that it requires really tight public-private partnership to make that happen. And candidly, right now [there are] big challenges on the horizon,' Tinucci said. In January, Canada's federal government paused its ZEV incentive program worth up to $5,000 on eligible cars and trucks. British Columbia is due to pause its electric vehicle rebate program worth up to $4,000 on May 15. Quebec's EV rebate dropped to a maximum of $4,000 per eligible vehicle, from $7,000 on Jan. 1. Tinucci says Uber is doing its part to spur drivers to shift to ZEVs. The company offers financial incentives for drivers with zero-emission vehicles. In 2020, Uber promised to spend $800 million through 2025 to help drivers in Canada, the U.S., and Europe transition to electric vehicles. 'Many of our drivers across the world take home more money because they drive an EV,' Tinucci said. 'We see better reviews and higher tipping from customers who ride in EVs.' She adds that Uber drivers in Canada are transitioning to electric vehicles six times faster than the general public, and incentivizing ride-hailing drivers to switch is essential, since they spend so much more time on the road. General Motors (GM) Canada vice-president of marketing and sales Shane Peever says the "unpredictability" of EV rebates from the federal and provincial governments has been a speed bump for the automaker. "Having some consistency on that will really help the EV market in Canada," he said on Wednesday at the same event. "Manufacturers, not just General Motors, will be able to plan appropriately. That's one of the things that we've had a challenge with this year, is trying to predict demand amid those ever-changing policy landscapes." Peever notes that over half of GM Canada's EV business is driven by Quebec, where government rebates are among the most generous. BMO Capital Markets analyst Erik Johnson says changes in rebate policies across multiple levels of government were the main reason behind plunging ZEV sales in March. "There are still no details on whether the federal rebate will return," he wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday. Johnson adds that Canada's 47 per cent year-over-year plunge in March stands in sharp contrast to the U.S. market, where sales for the month increased 19 per cent on an annualized basis. Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
'Big challenges': Uber wants more government help shifting its drivers to EVs
Uber's (UBER) global head of electrification and sustainability says the ride-hailing giant faces 'big challenges' in its push for 100 per cent zero emissions rides in Canada, the United States and Europe by 2030. Rebecca Tinucci says the San Francisco-based company needs to forge a 'really tight public-private partnership' with Ottawa and provincial governments in order to make it happen. In the first three months of 2025, Uber says just 9.1 per cent of 'on trip' miles in Canada and the U.S. were completed in zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). Earlier this month, Tinucci announced Uber would not fully achieve its 2025 electrification goals due to "high upfront EV costs, limited charging access, and inconsistent policy support" from governments. According to data from Statistics Canada released on Wednesday, ZEVs comprised 6.5 per cent of total new motor vehicles sold in March. Sales tumbled 47 per cent year-over-year, adding to a 41 per cent decline in February. 'I know it's very challenging,' Tinucci told an audience at the EV & Charging Expo 2025 event in Toronto on Wednesday. 'We have very aggressive goals at Uber around being a zero-emissions platform. Here in Canada, it's 2030.' Uber announced its commitment to become a zero-emissions platform by 2040 back in 2020, including the 2030 target for Canada, the U.S., and Europe. 'To be clear, it is a North Star, and we've said in the beginning that it requires really tight public-private partnership to make that happen. And candidly, right now [there are] big challenges on the horizon,' Tinucci said. In January, Canada's federal government paused its ZEV incentive program worth up to $5,000 on eligible cars and trucks. British Columbia is due to pause its electric vehicle rebate program worth up to $4,000 on May 15. Quebec's EV rebate dropped to a maximum of $4,000 per eligible vehicle, from $7,000 on Jan. 1. Tinucci says Uber is doing its part to spur drivers to shift to ZEVs. The company offers financial incentives for drivers with zero-emission vehicles. In 2020, Uber promised to spend $800 million through 2025 to help drivers in Canada, the U.S., and Europe transition to electric vehicles. 'Many of our drivers across the world take home more money because they drive an EV,' Tinucci said. 'We see better reviews and higher tipping from customers who ride in EVs.' She adds that Uber drivers in Canada are transitioning to electric vehicles six times faster than the general public, and incentivizing ride-hailing drivers to switch is essential, since they spend so much more time on the road. General Motors (GM) Canada vice-president of marketing and sales Shane Peever says the "unpredictability" of EV rebates from the federal and provincial governments has been a speed bump for the automaker. "Having some consistency on that will really help the EV market in Canada," he said on Wednesday at the same event. "Manufacturers, not just General Motors, will be able to plan appropriately. That's one of the things that we've had a challenge with this year, is trying to predict demand amid those ever-changing policy landscapes." Peever notes that over half of GM Canada's EV business is driven by Quebec, where government rebates are among the most generous. BMO Capital Markets analyst Erik Johnson says changes in rebate policies across multiple levels of government were the main reason behind plunging ZEV sales in March. "There are still no details on whether the federal rebate will return," he wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday. Johnson adds that Canada's 47 per cent year-over-year plunge in March stands in sharp contrast to the U.S. market, where sales for the month increased 19 per cent on an annualized basis. Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist. Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
