Moove moves to help Uber drivers switch to EVs
African-born startup business Moove will bring an additional 10,000 electric vehicles to London’s streets and make them available to Uber drivers with no upfront costs or deposits to drive forward electrification of mobility across the capital.
The company has launched in Europe with a 100% EV rent-to-buy model that provides access to brand new, zero-emissions vehicles for a flat weekly fee. Moove aims to be the largest EV partner on Uber’s platform in London with plans to scale to up to 10,000 vehicles by the end of 2025, creating sustainable earnings opportunities and contributing to the city’s net zero carbon emissions goals.
London is the global leader for Uber’s electrification efforts with over 6,000 EVs on the platform – the most of any Uber city. Moove’s London launch will enable Uber to progress towards its goal of becoming an all-electric platform in the capital by 2025. Moove customers can apply to use Uber’s £145 million Clean Air Plan to reduce the cost of their vehicle.
Founded by British-born Nigerian entrepreneurs Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove launched in Lagos, Nigeria in 2020 to democratise access to vehicle ownership. Having now scaled to nine markets across sub-Saharan Africa and India, Moove claims it is leading the charge in the ‘mobility fintech sector’, a white space it created and which is solving the challenge of limited access to vehicle financing for millions of gig workers across ride-hailing, logistics, and instant delivery sectors, of which there are around 4.5 million in the UK alone.
In London, Moove’s innovative approach to vehicle financing is designed to empower its customers with access to brand new, zero-emission vehicles with an easy sign-up process as well as no credit checks, upfront costs, or deposit needed. Value-added services include regular maintenance, MOT and vehicle insurance as part of Moove’s dedication to improving safety standards through ongoing training and vehicle serving. The weekly fee also covers health insurance and Moove customers have access to a dedicated customer success team.
In addition, Moove customers driving with Uber can reduce their weekly payments by using funds raised through Uber’s Clean Air Plan to help them meet the cost of switching to an EV. Moove estimates that the 10,000 EVs it plans to finance by 2025 in London will contribute a reduction of around 63,000 megatonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-CEO at Moove, said: “We are proud to have built a business in Africa to now be able to scale our model here in Europe, which is something that no other African fintech company has done before. This also marks a milestone of firsts for us; as we are excited to be launching with our first 100% EV fleet. We are thrilled to be expanding our partnership with Uber to drive our commitments towards the electrification of mobility.”
Andrew Brem, general manager at Uber UK, said: “Our aim at Uber is to become a 100% electric platform in London by 2025 and we understand that drivers need access to financing if they want to make the transition to an electric vehicle. Moove’s model will help more Uber drivers switch to pure electric faster, to reduce their running costs and help clean up London’s air. With demand from riders higher than ever, our partnership with Moove will benefit drivers and riders alike.”
Earlier this year, Uber expanded its EV-only product Uber Green to the whole of London allowing millions of riders in the capital to book an EV on-demand for the same price as an UberX. EV drivers also benefit from a 15% boost in earnings for Uber Green trips, as well as savings on fees and running costs compared to petrol and hybrid vehicles.
To simplify the charging experience, Moove has launched the first end-to-end charge experience and complete EV charging network app specifically for ride-hailing drivers called Moove Charge. Moove Charge enables Moove customers to locate, control, and pay for charging across one of the largest roaming networks in London, covering over 6,600 slow, fast and rapid charge points.
The app, which comes with an RFID electric car charging card, is a seamless all-in-one solution that aggregates charge points from 15 charge point network partners providing a cost saving of approximately 12% of average annual EV charging costs. Additional functionalities include the ability to search for charge points by vehicle compatibility, speed and availability and a dynamic spending cap feature, which helps Moove customers to better control their costs and cash flow. Altogether, this provides a better and easier experience for drivers as well as riders as it enables more electric cars to be on the road and reduced wait times for Uber’s growing customer base.
Images courtesy of Moove.
