California’s clean air regulator has reportedly released new guidelines, making it compulsory for ride-sharing platforms such as Uber and Lyft to use electric vehicles. This move is a first-of-its-kind by any U.S. state.

Both Uber and Lyft have decided to comply with the new regulation. However, citing this goal as unachievable without the government’s assistance, the two companies have asked the state body to financially assist the drivers for this transition to electric vehicles.

Uber has claimed to invest USD 800 million by 2025 to assist drivers to switch to EVs. On the contrary, the majority of the CARB’s (California Air Resources Board) 14-member team has condemned the companies for not doing their bit for the driver’s welfare.

One of the board members reportedly hinted at putting compensation on the ride-sharing companies. He further stated that there is no way to confirm that Uber and Lyft would bear the costs to compensate for the air pollution created by their vehicles.

The norms have been accepted unanimously by the California Air Resources Board. They have further set the target year 2030 for the ride-hailing apps to cover 90% of their miles using EVs. Notably, the companies Uber and Lyft have themselves set the target to completely shift to EVs in the U.S. by the same year.

However, the companies have claimed the targets set by CARB to be unrealistic. This involves developing large-scale EV charging infrastructure by 2030 which is highly uncertain.

According to the study by the Union of Concerned Scientists, the cost to meet the set target of 2030 might touch USD 1.73 billion.

As far as the automotive sector is concerned, this move has assured vehicle manufacturers to forecast the sales figures when everyone is gearing up to upscale the EV production. However, experts claim that consumer sales still remain uncertain.

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https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2021-05-20/california-regulator-adopts-ev-mandate-for-uber-lyft-ride-hail-fleets