Uber and China’s BYD partner for 100,000 EVs, autonomous driving

Ride-hailing platform Uber Technologies and Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD announced on Wednesday an agreement for adding 100,000 EVs globally, an alliance that is expected to bring down the total cost of EV ownership for Uber drivers and accelerate EV uptake worldwide. The 100,000 units that BYD will offer to Uber drivers will take several years to fulfill and first begin in Europe and Latin America before later expanding to include markets across the Middle East, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, according to an announcement. The two companies added that they will jointly work on autonomous driving technology to enable BYD vehicles on the Uber platform, without revealing further details. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk commented on X that BYD needs to change course fast otherwise the company would be “in trouble,” seemingly alluding to the Chinese firm’s relatively late start on self-driving technology. [Uber statement, Elon Musk tweet]