Many local and federal governments around the world encourage Ridesharing companies to transmit their fleet to electric vehicles. However, research has shown that ridesharing services such as Uber increase local emissions due to miles driven without passengers in vehicles. To help reduce emissions, Uber and KIA carmakers announced recently they partnered with car makers who supply electric vehicles in Europe to Uber.
Kia has a sublime goal for its electric vehicle aimed at taking a 20 percent share of the electric vehicle market with total sales in Europe, South Korea and North America. In addition, KIA plans to expand its EV portfolio to cover 11 models in 2025. At the same time, Uber has a target to operate 100,000 electric vehicles in Europe in 2025.
One key from the partnership is the KIA Niro EV, which will be available in Europe next year. Hyundai and Uber worked together earlier this year. In April, Hyundai supplied IONIQ and Kona electric vehicles to Uber in Europe. Separately, Uber also partnered with an electric vehicle startup based in the UK called the arrival for electric car supplies.
Automakers see value in partnering with a Ridesharing company because because these companies adopt EV to their fleet, the fleet of greater shared mobility produces faster EVS adoption. KIA also gets competitive benefits in Europe from a partnership, with a report that shows that in 2020, one in four Kia cars sold in Europe is EV or hybrid.
Kia gets a market share in Europe because the popularity of electric vehicles has increased. In January to May 2021, KIA increased its work in Europe to 7.5 percent, from 7.2 percent over the same range in 2020.