Tata Motors, India’s largest electric carmaker and Jaguar Land Rover’s parent company, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Uber to supply 25,000 XPRES-T electric vehicles (EV) . According to a joint statement from the two companies, Uber will incorporate these cars into its premium category service.
Tata Motors’ XPRES-T electric car will be delivered this month, and its inclusion in Uber’s fleet will be phased, beginning with major cities in India including as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad.
In 2021, the company launched the XPRES electric car brand exclusively for fleet operation. The XRES-T EV is the first car under this brand and comes in two range options – 277 kilometres and 315 kilometres and can charge from 0-80% in 59 minutes.
So far, Tata Motors has produced 50,000 EVs from its manufacturing plants in the personal mobility and fleet segments to date.
According to Prabhjeet Singh, Uber India and South Asia President, the partnership with Tata is the largest deal for EVs by a ride-sharing company. Singh added that Uber currently has an active fleet of 300,000 vehicles in India. The ride-hailing company wants all of its cars to have zero-emissions by 2040.
Uber already has competitors who have met the EV goal, such as BluSmart, an Indian cab operator with a 100% electric vehicle fleet that currently runs 2,200 cars.