Tata Motors and Uber sign MoU to launch fleet of 25,000 XPRES-T electric cars

Automobile manufacturer Tata Motors on February 20 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ride-sharing app Uber on Monday wherein the latter will introduce around 25,000 XPRES–T Tata Motor Electric Vehicles (EVs) into their premium category service.

Tata Motors will aid Uber in electrifying its services across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, Uber said in a media statement.

“This represents the largest EV partnership yet between an automaker and a ridesharing platform in India. It will supercharge the transition to zero emissions on the Uber platform as we work towards building a sustainable future,” said Prabhjeet Singh, President, of Uber India and South Asia.

Tata Motors will begin the deliveries of the cars to Uber fleet partners in a phased manner starting in February.

In July 2021, Tata Motors launched the ‘XPRES’ brand exclusively for fleet customers, and the XPRES-T EV is the first vehicle under this brand. The new XPRES-T electric sedan comes with 2 range options – 315 km and 277 km.

“In line with our commitment to grow sustainable mobility in the country, we are delighted to partner with Uber, India’s leading ridesharing platform. Offering customers our environmentally friendly EV ride experiences via Uber's Premium Category service, will accelerate the adoption of green and clean personal ride-sharing,” said Shailesh Chandra, MD, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility.

XPRES-T packs a high energy density battery of 26 kWh and 25.5 kWh and be charged from 0- 80 percent in 59 minutes and 110 minutes, respectively, using fast charging or can also be normally charged from any 15 A plug point, which is easily available and convenient.

The ride-hailing industry is fast adopting the electrification of its fleet.

Recently Ola’s founder and chief executive officer Bhavish Aggarwal said that the firm is planning to launch an EV fleet with around 10,000 cars.

Electric vehicle cab service company BluSmart, which raised around $25 million in a combination of equity and debt funding in May 2022, is also expanding its fleet services.

In fact, Tata Motors signed an agreement with BluSmart Electric Mobility in 2022 to deliver 10,000 XPRES-T electric vehicles to the company.