Rideshare giant’s massive EV fail

It recently introduced a new feature to encourage Aussies to make greener choices but then the app encountered difficulties.

Uber has been forced to refund customers who were slugged with a temporary fuel surcharge after they took trips in electric vehicles.

A number of Australian Uber customers were sent emails informing them the fuel surcharge had been “incorrectly” applied to their ride.

“We apologise for this error, and have credited the surcharge amount in Uber Cash to your account, totalling $0.38,” an email to one customer read.

“You are entitled to receive a cash refund instead of Uber Cash if you prefer. To do this, please contact support here. It may take up to 15 business days to process a cash refund.”

The email from Uber sent to customers. Picture: Supplied

An Uber spokeswoman said due to a technical error, a temporary fuel surcharge was incorrectly applied to some Uber trips that took place in an Electric Vehicle (EV).

“As soon as we became aware of this issue, we put steps in place to rectify the error and refund impacted riders as quickly as possible,” she said.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused, and can confirm this error has been fully resolved within the Uber app.”

It came at a time when Uber introduced a new feature to the ride sharing app in a bid to encourage Aussies to make greener choices.

Under their new ‘Rider Emissions Savings’ feature, riders can see an estimation of the CO₂ emissions they saved when travelling with two sustainable ride options – ‘Uber Green’ and ‘Comfort Electric’.

Uber Green, which is the same price as a UberX, allows passengers to ride in an electric or hybrid car.

Uber Green, which is the same price as a UberX, allows passengers to ride in an electric or hybrid car.

The more expensive ‘Comfort Electric’ option, allows passengers to ride in a fully electric car which has completed at least 100 rides and maintained a minimum rating of 4.85.

Aussies can see how many kilograms of CO2 they have saved when travelling with ‘Uber Green’ or ‘Comfort Electric’ by visiting the account screen of the app.

The total saved emissions are calculated based on the amount of tailpipe emissions avoided compared to UberX or ‘Uber Comfort’ trips of the same distance in your city.

The app then compares saved emissions to the equivalent gas, mileage of a petrol car and landfill saved.

The Bell Nexus concept “flying car” is shown at the Uber Elevate summit in Washington, DC in 2019. Picture: Robert LEVER / AFP

Uber Australia and New Zealand head of sustainability, strategy & planning for Anna Brito said the ride share company wanted to make it easier for passengers to opt for a lower-emissions lifestyle.

Tens of millions of dollars have been spent subsidising driver commission fees, saving Australian Uber drivers up to $3500-per-year for three years so the driver can save towards an electric vehicle.

In the first quarter of 2024, Australian Uber riders took 1.8 million EV trips, in more than 4000 EV Ubers.

Those EV trips represent four per cent of Uber drivers’ kilometres for the period.

The news comes as Australia EV car sales grew by more than 10 per cent in May, after a five per cent dip in April.

So far this year, EV sales are up almost 27 per cent, while sales of hybrids have doubled in the same period.