Uber taps Tata Motors for the largest EV commitment of its kind

Published

2 years ago

February 20, 2023

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Uber and Mumbai-based Tata Motors signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Monday to bring 25,000 EVs onto its network, the largest commitment between an automaker and rideshare platform in India.

As one of the most popular rideshare companies, Uber has a massive responsibility to cut emissions from its fleet and protect the environment.

Uber just reached a massive new milestone, crossing 2 billion trips in the fourth quarter of 2022 for the first time, equivalent to a whopping average of nearly 1 million trips per hour.

Although this is a huge accomplishment, it also means more vehicles in its network and, therefore, more emissions. Studies have shown that ride-hailing trips can result in 69% more climate pollution than an average trip they look to replace.

The rideshare giant is on a mission to overcome this with plans for a 100% zero-emission fleet globally by 2040. To jump-start the initiative, Uber injected $800 million in 2020 to help its drivers go electric.

Meanwhile, Tata Motors has been a pioneer, accounting for 44,000 EVs of the 51,172 sold in India’s EV market. Its lineup includes India’s most affordable electric vehicle, the Tata Tiago, with a starting price of just over $10,000 (INR 869 Lakh), which has been a hit since rolling out.

Tata is teaming up with Uber, India’s leading rideshare platform, to accelerate sustainable mobility in the country.

Uber-Tata-Motors-EVs-1 — Uber Tata Motors XPRES-T EV (Source: Uber)

Uber and Tata Motors launch 25,000 XPRES-T EVs

Uber and Tata Motors revealed through a press release today a new partnership to electrify India’s transportation.

Starting this month, the agreement will bring 25,000 XPRES-T EVs to Uber’s fleet network.

Shailesh Chandra, president of Tata Motor’s passenger vehicle and electromobility business, explained how the partnership would benefit not only the company but also India, saying:

Working towards our aim of growing India’s e-mobility market, we are delighted to announce our partnership with Uber, India’s leading ridesharing app, for their expansion of sustainable mobility options. With this association, we have taken another leap towards enhancing electric mobility across the country, and will continue our work in ‘Moving India’ to a safer, smarter and greener future.

Tata launched the XPRES brand for fleet customers with the XPRES-T EV sedan as the first vehicle under the umbrella. Chandra says the XPRES-T EV is a “very attractive option for customers and operators” with two range options – 315 kilometers (195 miles) and 277 kilometers (172 miles).

The electric sedan features a high energy battery density of 26 kWh and 25.5 kWh and a 72 V three-phase AC induction electric motor.

Electrek’s Take

Uber and Tata’s new partnership is significant in a country that is just gaining traction in zero-emission EVs.

India is the world’s third-largest contributor of greenhouse gases (GHG) but did announce its intentions to become a net-zero emitter by 2070 at COP26. In addition, the country set an EV sales penetration target of 30% private cars, 70% commercial cars, 40% of buses, and 80% two and three-wheelers by 2030.

The Uber and Tata partnership will be a start as both companies look to advance zero-emissions EVs in India.

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Beta Technologies founder completes first test flight in its production-intent eCTOL [Video]

Published

4 hours ago

November 14, 2024

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Beta Technologies founder completes first test flight in its production-intent eCTOL [Video]

All-electric aircraft developer BETA Technologies has shared another important milestone in bringing its first two vessels to market. Most recently, BETA’s founder, CEO, and test pilot Kyle Clark took the production version of its ALIA eCTOL up for its first flight, as seen in the video below.

BETA Technologies is a fully integrated electric aircraft and systems developer based in Vermont. Three years ago, it debuted its first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, the ALIA–250. That BETA vessel has since been renamed the ALIA VTOL and completed a piloted test flight transitioning mid-air this past April.

In addition to the ALIA VTOL, BETA has also been developing an electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) plane called the ALIA CTOL. To date, it has flown tens of thousands of test miles en route to evaluation flights for FAA certification. That aircraft is targeting full approval for commercial operations by 2025.

As BETA moves closer to bringing the ALIA CTOL to the public, it has completed its first bonafide production build in South Burlington. Following a Special Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), BETA has successfully taken its production-ready ALIA CTOL up for a test flight, piloted by its founder and CEO.

Watch BETA’s founder complete a CTOL test flight

BETA Technologies shared details of its first successful production CTOL test flight today alongside the images above and the full video below.

Once the production-intent build of the ALIA CTOL was complete, the FAA inspected the aircraft for safety and compliance before granting BETA a Multipurpose Special Airworthiness Certificate for Experimental Research & Development, Market Survey, and Crew Training, signing-off approval for test flights.

On November 13, BETA CEO, founder, and test pilot Kyle Clark conducted the first test flight of the ALIA CTOL aircraft, which lasted nearly an hour. The test included a conventional runway takeoff before the aircraft climbed to 7,000 feet.

While in the air, Clark tested the aircraft’s handling qualities, stability, control test points, and initial airspeed expansion before completing several approaches ahead of a normal landing. Clark spoke following the successful flight:

This start of our production CX300 flight test campaign is a result of years of hard work and focus on studying customer requirements, hard engineering, manufacturing, production, quality and test. It represents a significant milestone for BETA, and is the beginning of an exciting new phase for the business. With this, we’re one step closer to putting this technology into the hands of our customers.

We learned a lot from this first production build. We weren’t just building an aircraft company, we were building and refining a system to build high quality aircraft efficiently. This first build allowed the team to collect data and insight on manufacturing labor, tooling design, processes, yields and sequences, all of which are being used to refine our production systems.

With its production test flight campaign now underway, BETA says it will continue testing the ALIA CTOL aircraft for the standard 50 hours required before qualifying for a Market Survey and Crew Training certificate. That next certificate will enable BETA to fly outside of Burlington and Plattsburgh and continue training additional pilots on the aircraft.

The company shared it will also continue production of additional aircraft, including ALIA CTOL and ALIA VTOL configurations, the latter of which was recently teased in October. You can view footage of BETA’s CTOL flight below.

[embedded content]

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Environment

U.S. crude oil rises, trades around $69 per barrel

Published

4 hours ago

November 14, 2024

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U.S. crude oil rises, trades around per barrel

Crude oil futures rose slightly on Thursday, with the U.S. benchmark trading around $69 per barrel, though the market outlook remains bearish.

Global crude supplies are expected to outstrip demand by more than 1 million barrels per day next year led by robust growth in the U.S., according to the International Energy Agency’s monthly market report.

Here are today’s energy prices by 8:07 a.m. ET:

West Texas Intermediate December contract: $68.92 per barrel, up 49 cents, or 0.7%. Year to date, U.S. crude oil is down more than 3%.
Brent January contract: $72.78 per barrel, up 50 cents, or 0.7%. Year to date, the global benchmark is down more than 5%.
RBOB Gasoline December contract: $1.9711 per gallon, up 0.3%. Year to date, gasoline has fallen nearly 6%.
Natural Gas December contract: $2.966 per thousand cubic feet, down 0.6%. Year to date, gas has gained nearly 18%.

UBS slashed its price forecast for global benchmark Brent to $80 per barrel from $87 previously on weakening demand in China, the world’s largest crude importer.

OPEC on Tuesday cut its demand growth forecast for the fourth month in a row earlier this week.

U.S. crude oil has shed about 4% and Brent is down 3.5% since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential as the dollar has surged. A stronger U.S. dollar can depress oil demand among buyers that hold other currencies.

Don’t miss these energy insights from CNBC PRO:

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Loren McDonald stops by Quick Charge to discuss EV charging, Paren, and more

Published

15 hours ago

November 14, 2024

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Loren McDonald stops by Quick Charge to discuss EV charging, Paren, and more

Leading electric vehicle analyst, author, and industry thought leaders Loren McDonald and Bill Ferro stop by Quick Charge to discuss EV Adoption’s acquisition by Paren, the “crisis” of EV charging reliability, and the real state of the EV market.

Depending on who you listen, EVs are either driving brands to record growth and are about cross that critical 10% of the overall market nationwide, or the future is bleak, the market is down, and EVs just aren’t selling. What’s really going on? Loren and Bill (probably) have some answers.

Today’s episode is sponsored by BLUETTI, a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems. For a limited time, save up to 52% during BLUETTI’s exclusive Black Friday sale, now through November 28, and be sure to use promo code BLUETTI5OFF for 5% off all power stations site wide. Click here to learn more.

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