Bolt, one of the biggest rival of Uber in London, is launching its Zero Emission Transition fund to help its drivers to switch over to electric vehicles. The fund, which is worth of £250,000, will have no extra cost to drivers and riders.
The money will cover for four main things: Installing charging points, developing tool for calculating total cost of owning the electric car, removing the need for drivers for paying a deposit while buying new electric vehicle and donating to sustainable in initiatives.
One of the biggest barrier for any taxi driver in UK while buying electric vehicle is the upfront cost. This has made many taxi drivers to avoid buying electric car.
”We’re confident that the groundwork being laid by our Zero Emission Transition pilot will help identify the mechanics that are most efficient at getting Bolt drivers into electric vehicles, and are excited at the potential benefit this could have for our drivers and the wider city,” said Sam Raciti, general manager.
With the funding, the overall operations of Bolt in London will fall into the lines of its rest of Europe service, where most of its services are carbon-neutral.
Tie-up with Ubitricity
In order to carry out this transition smoothly, bolt hired charging solutions firm Ubitricity that will increase the charging infrastructure in the city.
For the UK to meet its carbon emission and air quality ambitions, we need a rapid transition to electric vehicles. When you compare driving patterns, a taxi covers five times more mileage per year than the average car. So helping taxi drivers switch to EVs sooner by solving their charging worries around cost and convenience, delivers a large and quick gain against local authorities’ climate change and air quality goal,” said Daniel Bentham, managing director of Ubitricity.
The company, in its further plans to help drivers, it has joined hands with lease company Splend. With this, there will be only minimal deposit required and driver will receive good ride-based incentives. According to the company, this initiative will help “convert 500 of the 50,000 drivers registered on its platform to EVs in the first six months of next year by offering them a new car hire package.”
Ubitricity is planning to expand infrastructure, but on taxi business. Our growing network of 2,500 public charge points brings easy, good value EV charging to the doorsteps of people who park in the street,” said Ubitricity managing director Daniel Bentham. “By working together, Bolt and Ubitricity can help local authorities accelerate the roll-out of EV charging infrastructure for the taxi community and clean the air faster for all of us.”
In the recent press release, Ubitricity said it is the largest public charging network in the UK itself by securing a 12.5 per cent share of its total market.
