Uber EV Miles Hit a Record 20.5% in Europe and 10.5% in the US and Canada, but Uber Says 2030 Is Out of Reach

Photo: Comyu / Wikimedia Commons (CC0). An "Uber Premier EV" Tesla Model Y in Tokyo.

More Uber rides are electric than ever before. In the third quarter of 2026, battery-electric cars handled 20.5% of all on-trip miles on Uber in Europe and 10.5% in the United States and Canada, according to the company's latest Electrification Update. Both are records, and both cross a line for the first time: one in five miles in Europe, one in ten in North America.

The same report carries a less flattering admission. Uber says it missed its 2025 electrification goals and that its 2030 targets "continue to be out of reach without stronger, coordinated action across government and industry." Here is what the numbers show, where EV rides are most common and what it means for riders and drivers.

The Record Numbers, in Plain English

Uber measures progress by the share of on-trip miles, the miles driven with a passenger aboard, completed in zero-emission vehicles. In practice that means battery EVs; Uber says hydrogen fuel cell cars appear only "very occasionally." Hybrids and plug-in hybrids don't count.

• Trips: EV drivers completed more than 207 million Uber trips worldwide in Q3 2026, an average of over 26 every second, and 52% more than in Q3 2025.
• Drivers: More than 434,000 EV drivers were active on Uber in the average month of the quarter, almost 52% more than a year earlier. Uber counts a driver as active if they completed at least one trip that month.
• Growth: Uber says Q2 and Q3 2026 brought "some of our largest quarterly increases" in EV mileage share across Canada, Europe and the US, and the largest quarterly gains in the US and Canada since 2023.

That rebound matters because North America had stalled. InsideEVs notes that EV uptake on Uber in the US and Canada stayed roughly flat from Q3 2024, and Uber's own report says the region's EV mileage share actually fell for the first time in Q4 2025 before climbing again this year.

Where Uber Rides Are Most Electric

Uber's Europe figure covers 22 countries, including the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway. The company says its drivers are switching to EVs "up to 5 times faster than the average motorist" in Canada, Europe and the US, which makes sense: a car driven full time racks up miles quickly, so cheaper electricity and lower maintenance pay off faster than they do for a commuter.

Uber credits the city leaders to "thoughtful policies, industry investment, and strong charging networks." Both London and Amsterdam have tightened emissions rules for taxis and private-hire cars, and in London Uber spent years collecting a per-mile fee from riders to fund drivers' EV purchases.

Uber's Goals: Missed and Out of Reach

Uber set some of the most aggressive electrification targets in the ride-hailing business. Its own sustainability page now shows how far short it has fallen.

Uber blames barriers it says are largely outside its control: high upfront EV prices, financing and insurance costs, limited and complicated charging, and inconsistent government policy. In the US, the loss of the federal EV tax credit in 2025 removed one of the biggest purchase incentives.

Charging, Not Price, Is Now the Biggest Hurdle

Uber's driver research backs that up. In a survey of about 21,000 drivers in 13 countries, conducted with PSB Insights and reported by Axios in June, charging access passed vehicle cost as the top obstacle to going electric. In the US, 24% of drivers without an EV named charging as their biggest barrier, compared with 11% who named cost, and 49% of US EV drivers said they want more fast-charging stations.

The charging companies feel the demand. EVgo has said rideshare vehicles now account for about a quarter of the energy it dispenses, up from roughly 10% in 2021.

What Uber Offers Drivers and Riders

Uber says it has spent "hundreds of millions of dollars" on electrification programs, incentives, partnerships and product changes. The offers have shifted, and some have shrunk:

• Uber Electric: In October 2025, Uber renamed Uber Green to Uber Electric, reflecting that the US option had become all-electric earlier that year. Riders can request an EV directly in the app.
• Battery-aware matching: Uber matches EV drivers only with trips their remaining range can complete. It now works with Kia, Hyundai, Ford, Nissan, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz vehicles in 25 countries.
• Go Electric grant: A one-time $4,000 credit for drivers who switch from gas to a personally owned or leased battery EV. Uber expanded it nationwide in April, but its terms page now limits new applications to Diamond-tier drivers in New York City and Massachusetts, with applications elsewhere "temporarily paused." It's capped at the first 2,500 approved drivers, who must complete 100 EV trips by December 31, 2026.
• Discounts: Uber has offered drivers partner discounts on new EVs and charging, including $1,000 toward an EV bought through TrueCar.

The Robotaxi Factor

Uber's report points to one more force that could push its numbers up: driverless cars. "The coming wave of autonomous (electric) vehicles will create a major tailwind in achieving electrification at scale," the company wrote. Most robotaxis in service today are electric, so each one that joins Uber's network adds zero-emission miles without needing a driver to buy an EV. How fast that happens depends on partners, and that picture is changing: see our coverage of Waymo ending its Uber partnership in Austin and Atlanta and Uber's robotaxi targets for 2027.

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