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Random uninformed prediction: Uber Green is coming soon. Pay a premium for good conscience (so you can justify using low-occupancy vehicles instead of public tr

by cozzyd 8y ago

Random uninformed prediction: Uber Green is coming soon. Pay a premium for good conscience (so you can justify using low-occupancy vehicles instead of public transit).

CydeWeys 8y ago
That's what I'm thinking too, and I like it. It may not even cost a premium necessarily, just longer wait times.
- throwaway426079 8y ago
  If you're creating additional congestion (by requesting a less common vehicle from further away) rather than taking the nearest available car, the green advantage will be lost some of the time.
  - toomuchtodo 8y ago
    Like surge pricing though, it should bring out more EVs in the Uber fleet (if a premium is charged, and routed to the driver).
    - icebraining 8y ago
      At least in Lisbon, there's no premium, they cost the same as X.
      - toomuchtodo 8y ago
        Interesting! Thanks for the data point.
  - CydeWeys 8y ago
    Over short time scales, maybe. Over longer time scales, however, this will create an incentive for Uber drivers to switch over to electric vehicles, once it becomes known that electric vehicles are more profitable to drive for Uber because their utilization is higher (in addition to saving money on gas).
    - throwaway426079 8y ago
      Agreed. Although I think most drivers already know that. The typical Uber (at least in London) is a Prius. Still good that the financial incentive is nudging drivers that way though.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
rawrmaan 8y ago
This is my #1 most desired feature on Uber and Lyft.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- saudioger 8y ago
  Take a bus
  - mac01021 8y ago
    Even in that doubles the travel time and you have to switch buses twice before arriving at your destination? It's not irrational to want to reduce one's environmental impact without bearing that level of inconvenience, even if one could reduce it to a greater extent by spending the extra time.
    - saudioger 8y ago
      It's well argued that you're not significantly reducing your environmental impact by buying an electric car. There are literally millions of used cars that will ultimately be less harmful over their lifespans than increasing the demand for new vehicles. You can't only take into consideration mileage, but must also consider the environmental cost of production, logistics, and electricity generation. If you're going to whittle that argument down further by saying you _want_ a new car anyway, or you're drawn to reduced maintenance/fuel costs... you might as well admit that you don't actually care about the environment and just want a cool car (I won't knock that, but don't pretend that virtue is your motivation).
      - mac01021 8y ago
        I agree with everything you just said (and even on principle will only ever buy a used car) - except we're not talking about buying a new car. We're talking about using uber/lyft. If that uber driver is does uber-driving full time, and they charge their car using a suitably green power source, then the electric car might be seeing enough use/mileage that the emissions savings make a net win after a year or so on the road. Maybe uber-consisting-of-only-cars-at-least-10-years-old would still be better. But you're never going to get uber to implement that. And of course taking the bus is better, but sometimes extremely inconvenient (for some definition of "extremely". ---------------------------------- Separate line of thought - I have in the past reasoned thus: In the year 2025, millions of new cars will be produced and sold. There is nothing that a couple of curmudgeons like you and I can do about that. But the fraction of those cars that are electric vs petroleum-powered is going to depend on the number of people who by electric cars between now and then. Consumer behavior does influence the set of products that vendors make available to consume in subsequent months and years. So maybe these brand-new-electric-car-buyers are actually helping in an indirect (and impractical-to-quantify) way.
palunon 8y ago
Uber Green already exists in Paris, at the same price than UberX

by cozzyd 8y ago

Random uninformed prediction: Uber Green is coming soon. Pay a premium for good conscience (so you can justify using low-occupancy vehicles instead of public transit).

CydeWeys 8y ago

That's what I'm thinking too, and I like it. It may not even cost a premium necessarily, just longer wait times.

throwaway426079 8y ago
If you're creating additional congestion (by requesting a less common vehicle from further away) rather than taking the nearest available car, the green advantage will be lost some of the time.
- toomuchtodo 8y ago
  Like surge pricing though, it should bring out more EVs in the Uber fleet (if a premium is charged, and routed to the driver).
  - icebraining 8y ago
    At least in Lisbon, there's no premium, they cost the same as X.
    - toomuchtodo 8y ago
      Interesting! Thanks for the data point.
- CydeWeys 8y ago
  Over short time scales, maybe. Over longer time scales, however, this will create an incentive for Uber drivers to switch over to electric vehicles, once it becomes known that electric vehicles are more profitable to drive for Uber because their utilization is higher (in addition to saving money on gas).
  - throwaway426079 8y ago
    Agreed. Although I think most drivers already know that. The typical Uber (at least in London) is a Prius. Still good that the financial incentive is nudging drivers that way though.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

rawrmaan 8y ago

This is my #1 most desired feature on Uber and Lyft.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
saudioger 8y ago
Take a bus
- mac01021 8y ago
  Even in that doubles the travel time and you have to switch buses twice before arriving at your destination? It's not irrational to want to reduce one's environmental impact without bearing that level of inconvenience, even if one could reduce it to a greater extent by spending the extra time.
  - saudioger 8y ago
    It's well argued that you're not significantly reducing your environmental impact by buying an electric car. There are literally millions of used cars that will ultimately be less harmful over their lifespans than increasing the demand for new vehicles. You can't only take into consideration mileage, but must also consider the environmental cost of production, logistics, and electricity generation. If you're going to whittle that argument down further by saying you _want_ a new car anyway, or you're drawn to reduced maintenance/fuel costs... you might as well admit that you don't actually care about the environment and just want a cool car (I won't knock that, but don't pretend that virtue is your motivation).
    - mac01021 8y ago
      I agree with everything you just said (and even on principle will only ever buy a used car) - except we're not talking about buying a new car. We're talking about using uber/lyft. If that uber driver is does uber-driving full time, and they charge their car using a suitably green power source, then the electric car might be seeing enough use/mileage that the emissions savings make a net win after a year or so on the road. Maybe uber-consisting-of-only-cars-at-least-10-years-old would still be better. But you're never going to get uber to implement that. And of course taking the bus is better, but sometimes extremely inconvenient (for some definition of "extremely". ---------------------------------- Separate line of thought - I have in the past reasoned thus: In the year 2025, millions of new cars will be produced and sold. There is nothing that a couple of curmudgeons like you and I can do about that. But the fraction of those cars that are electric vs petroleum-powered is going to depend on the number of people who by electric cars between now and then. Consumer behavior does influence the set of products that vendors make available to consume in subsequent months and years. So maybe these brand-new-electric-car-buyers are actually helping in an indirect (and impractical-to-quantify) way.

palunon 8y ago

Uber Green already exists in Paris, at the same price than UberX