Uber will use ChatGPT to get more people to use EVs

Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/picture alliance (Getty Images)
Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/picture alliance (Getty Images)

Uber (UBER) is looking to encourage users and drivers to opt for electric vehicles.

To do so, the company will roll out an AI assistant powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT GPT-4o, which will answer drivers’ questions about buying and using electric vehicles as opposed to a gas-powered car, executives said at the Go Get Zero sustainability conference in London on Tuesday.

Sachin Kansal, vice president of product management at Uber, said that the driver AI assistant is already in beta testing and will launch with EV-specific questions and other use cases within a few months.

“EV Preference,” another new feature for users, allows customers to hail only fully electric vehicles. That feature will be rolled out on the app over the coming months, and the company believes the option will “help a lot of riders go green,” said Kansal.

“We need more affordable EVs, we need stronger EV mandates, we need incentives for people who are driving the most,” chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said at the conference. “We want to make sure that chargers are available at every community, not just the wealthiest. So we all need to step up.”

Uber is also introducing an “EV Mentor” program that connects EV drivers to EV-curious drivers to answer their questions about making the switch.

As part of that push, Uber Green — the company’s EV and hybrid offering that it first launched in 2020 — is now an EV-only service in 40 cities and states around the world, including major hubs like New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, and Sydney.

These efforts are another step towards the achievement of the company’s sustainability initiatives, which include becoming a zero-emission mobility platform in North America and Europe by 2030 and globally by 2040.

The company said there are already currently more than 182,000 EVs on the Uber app.

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