Uber and Hyundai's subsidiary Kia, have partnered in Europe to increase the use of EVs in the continent. As a part of the deal, Kia will help Uber drivers procure more EVs at discounted prices. Right now, in Europe, Kia has just launched the Niro EV but in 2022, it will also have the EV6 in the market. "Kia aims 20% battery EV share in the total sales in advanced markets, including South Korea, Europe and North America. The South Korean automaker plans to expand its battery EV portfolio to 11 models by 2025 while Uber has set its target of 100,000 EVs to operate in Europe by 2025," Bakar Sadik Agwan, Senior Automotive Consulting Analyst at GlobalData, revealed to ETAuto.
Uber has plans to electrify its entire fleet by 2030
"With the partnership, Kia aims to supply its battery EVs to Uber drivers at discounted prices across 20 countries in Europe. Presently, Kia offers the Niro EV as a full-electric vehicle in Europe. Its new electric car EV6 will also be available in Europe by next year," he added.
This is a build of another similar partnership between Uber and Kia's parent Hyundai which happened in April 2021. As a part of that deal, Hyundai was supplying the Kona and the IONIQ EVs.
Overall, this also part of Uber's strategy which wants to fully deploy a fleet of EVs in North America by 2030 and in the UK, especially London by 2025.
The European market is key for Kia to grow its EV business. Kia is particularly strong in Europe and 1 in 4 cars Kia sold in the continent were EVs or hybrids. Only recently Kia updated the Niro EV.
