Uber introduces electric vehicles, letting people get picked up in battery-powered cars

More than 50 of the vehicles will be available in the app in London from the end of September, and they are being rolled out elsewhere at the same time

Karl Anders, National Electric Vehicle Fleet Manager of Nissan at the launch of the first Uber electric cars in London (Laura Dale/PA Wire)

Uber passengers might now find themselves getting picked up by electric vehicles.

The company is rolling out battery-powered cars in London initially, as a way of tackling the deadly air pollution that hangs over the city.

The first test vehicles will start hitting the capital’s roads from Wednesday. Eventually more than 50 fully electric vehicles will be on the road by the end of September, and Uber will bring more vehicles to at least one other UK city this Autumn.

Jo Bertram, regional general manager of Uber in the UK, said: "People already associate Uber with hybrid cars, but we now want to go a big step further with fully electric cars on the road from today.

"We are determined to use technology to help tackle the challenge of air pollution in London and across the UK.

"Our car-sharing service has already saved more than 1.3 million miles and 231 metric tonnes of CO2.

"With electric vehicles - and more people sharing their journey and leaving their own cars at home - there's even more we can do."

More than 60% of Uber journey miles in London already take place in hybrid cars, and the car-sharing service UberPOOL which launched in the city last year has saved more than 98,000 litres of petrol.

The new Uber option has been been brought to the roads in partnership with car manufacturers BYD and Nissan.

A three-month study into the electric vehicles programme will be conducted by the Energy Saving Trust.

It will look at the feasibility of running large numbers of private hire vehicles in the UK, as well as the experience, driving patterns, economics and capacity of London's current network of charging points to support the cars.

And if the programme is successful, Uber expects to have hundreds of fully electric vehicles running on its app next year.

Ms Bertram added: "Of course there are challenges ahead. A bigger roll-out of fully electric cars needs a good network of charging points and the economics must add up for drivers too.

"That's why the three-month study by the Energy Saving Trust is so important.

"We look forward to seeing the results and sharing the findings with the Government, Transport for London and the Mayor."

Additional reporting by Press Association