Uber’s First Electric Car Fleet Launched

Uber has been in the press quite a bit lately ever since it put its self-driving cars on the road in San Francisco. The self-driving car was spotted running a red light and some legal hurdles have forced the company to suspend its autonomous driving tests in the tech capital of the world. The company is breaking new ground elsewhere, though. Uber’s first electric car fleet has been launched in Madrid, Spain.

Uber has launched its first fleet of electric cars in the capital city of Spain. The company is hoping that by introducing electric cars in the city it will improve its image. The city’s heavily-regulated taxi sector has not taken kindly to the ride-hailing service’s existence, but it’s not like Uber hasn’t seen this response in several other cities as well.

The city administration introduced new measures last month to combat pollution, the measures include limiting private traffic in the city center to further restricting speed limits on access roads. Uber’s managing director for southern Europe Carles Lloret says “We want to do things that are in line with what the town hall wants.”

Pushback from local taxi companies and stringent regulation forced Uber to suspend its operations in Spain at the end of 2014. It relaunched in Madrid back in April with UberX which uses professionally licensed drivers unlike its previous UberPOP service. The new fleet of electric cars is part of the company’s premium UberONE service which provides riders with additional incentives such as internet connectivity inside the car.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Transportation
Tags: Electric Cars, Uber