Uber bets big on EV charging for both its drivers and future robotaxis

Uber (UBER) announced a new push into EV charging on Wednesday with a two-pronged approach to serve both its current drivers on the platform today and autonomous robotaxis in the future.

First, Uber said it would offer incentives to firms like EVgo to install EV chargers in the US and Europe, guaranteeing that chargers installed in neighborhoods where its drivers live or frequently pick up and drop off passengers would be used for a minimum amount of time.

Those usage guarantees give charging operators greater confidence that new stations will be profitable by providing a floor of minimum revenue, thus lowering the risk of building in areas not currently served.

Uber has vast data on where its drivers live and where its high-usage pick-ups are located (for instance, near airports) to help optimize where new chargers will be built. Many Uber drivers in urban settings don’t have chargers at home and must use public charging in nearly all situations. Companies like EVgo note that a higher percentage of its users are Uber and for-hire drivers with EVs.

Alongside those financial guarantees, Uber is also taking a different approach to accelerating charging for a robotaxi future — one built on capital investment rather than incentives.

Uber said it would commit more than $100 million to develop DC fast-charging hubs for robotaxis, supporting the company’s push to scale up its self-driving operations.

The DC fast-charging stations will be located at autonomous depots where the company runs day-to-day fleet operations, as well as in smaller locations throughout priority cities.

Uber said the spending will cover site development costs, equipment, grid connections, and associated capital expenditure, with the rollout beginning in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Dallas, before expanding to additional cities.

Uber said owning some chargers, despite the expense, “improves efficiency, lowers costs and keeps vehicles on the road longer, maximizing utilization and uptime.”

Uber has signed several deals with outside partners to build up its robotaxi efforts. Uber and Lucid have a deal to create a robotaxi service in US cities using up to 20,000 Lucid EVs powered by startup Nuro’s self-driving OS. Uber also partnered with Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Waymo to summon Waymo robotaxis on Uber’s platforms in cities like Atlanta and Austin.

Presumably, the Lucid robotaxis and even Waymo EVs operating on Uber’s network would be able to use Uber’s upcoming charging network.

Uber’s investments in charging are a bet on its vision for an autonomous, electric future. The ride-hailing giant faces stiff competition from its partner Waymo, as well as Tesla (TSLA), and Amazon’s (AMZN) Zoox, which are all racing to dominate the robotaxi market — and Uber’s future robotaxi fleet requires a charging backbone that doesn’t yet exist at scale.