After establishing partnerships with Renault, Stellantis, Tesla and Hertz, Uber is going ahead with BYD. The American platform announces, this Wednesday, a deal with the Chinese electric car giant. Its VTC drivers will be able to access financial assistance to acquire a battery car at a lower cost. This agreement is part of Uber's ambition to phase out diesel on January 1, 2025. Concretely, the platform has released, for France, an envelope of 8 million euros to financially support 3,000 drivers, on the 45,000 active.
VTCs will benefit from a negotiated price as well as assistance which “will be directly deducted from the purchase price of the vehicle”. The amount of assistance varies depending on the driver's seniority and their use of the app. Uber specifies that a VTC using the platform for three years and driving an average of 42 hours per week would benefit, here, from an envelope of 4,500 euros.
At the Paris Motor Show, Chinese BYD's dreams of conquest
A SEAL for 25,000 euros
Two vehicles will be accessible. There is, on the one hand, the BYD SEAL sedan, which will be available at 25,000 euros excluding tax (compared to a base price of 39,158 euros excluding tax). And, on the other hand, the ATTO 3 SUV, available from 18,000 euros excluding taxes, (the base price of which is 31,658 euros excluding taxes).
“The objective is thus to reduce the estimated additional cost of 15,000 euros between a second-hand hybrid vehicle (around 20,000 euros), still widely popular with drivers, and the cost of a new electric vehicle (more than 40,000 euros in average) “specifies Uber in its press release.
A great showcase for BYD
The platform specifies that in the third quarter, 16% of the kilometers traveled by its drivers were with electric vehicles. Uber considers that its partnership will make it possible to continue the greening of its fleet, while state aid for the purchase of an electric car has just been severely cut. For BYD, this partnership represents a great opportunity to raise awareness of the brand. The Chinese giant has great ambitions in France, where it hopes, in the long term, to carve out rivals for Renault and other Stellantis in the electric sector.
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BYD recently overtook its rival Tesla in global sales for the first time. In the third quarter, the Shenzhen group reported a turnover equivalent to $28.24 billion, up 24%, compared to the $25.2 billion posted by Elon Musk's group for the same period.
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