Uber, Ola might have to go electric by 2026 in India: Report

• Indian government will soon direct Ola, Uber to convert 40% of their fleet to electric vehicles by 2026, says a report.
• Ola has already taken the lead in the electric vehicle segment in India.
• Uber has reportedly been experimenting with electric bikes in India.

The Indian government is clearly not taking its Electric Vehicle mission lightly. The government has reportedly ordered ride-hailing giants Uber and Ola to convert 40% of their fleet to electric cars by 2026, according to a Reuters report.

The report said that for both the companies to achieve this target, they will have to begin the conversion process by next year itself – “would need to start converting their fleet as early as next year to achieve 2.5% electrification by 2021, 5% by 2022, 10% by 2023 before hiking it to 40%,” the report said.

Ola might take to this deadline much easily. It has already taken the lead in the electric vehicle segment. The homegrown unicorn has a company under the name Ola Electric Mobility which develops solutions to make electric mobility viable on a large scale. Ola plans to bring 1 million Electric Vehicles on to the Indian roads by 2021.

The company has also been raising funds at a quick pace. So far, it has brought in investors like Ratan Tata and Arun Sarin, along with Tiger Global and Matrix India – all of whom are early investors in the parent company ANI Technologies.

Meanwhile, Uber too is reportedly experimenting with electric bicycles and bikes in India. The global giant has partnered with Bengaluru-based bicycle sharing platform Yulu bikes.

Globally, Uber had acquired bike sharing startup Jump and had already launched its e-bike services in the US and UK.

See Also:
Ratan Tata recharges Ola’s electric mobility wing – invests an undisclosed amount
Ola gets fresh funds to take on Mahindra’s Glyd – where’s Uber?