inDrive to strengthen EV in India

India, 26th April, 2024: inDrive, the global mobility and urban services platform, is undertaking several measures to promote the use of electric vehicles in its fleet, for a more sustainable future. These include researching electric vehicle (EV) opportunities worldwide (with a focus in India), and improving the data analysis system for its registered electric cars drivers, to promote the electrification of its car fleet.

The company has taken significant strides towards embracing EVs as a central component of its future services, positioning itself as a pioneer in sustainable transportation.

In 2023, inDrive began investing substantial resources into research and the integration of electric vehicles into its carpool. Today, we proudly announce that inDrive can distinguish and calculate the use of EVs in its fleet, and monitor their environmental impact by calculating carbon-free miles.

inDrive’s unique bidding system offers passengers and drivers the freedom to negotiate the cost of a service. Since inDrive does not own its own fleet, but instead creates an infrastructure where services can be offered through fair agreements, their commitment to establishing an electric car fleet will be supported by investing in a convenient infrastructure that will benefit electric car drivers.

“EVs are taking off everywhere across India,” Semen Alekseev, Business Development & Operations Manager at ESG inDrive. “We welcome EV drivers to our platform, and will highlight their services to our users. We are also looking to provide our drivers with special discounts at the charging stations, as an incentive. Moreover, we don’t charge EV drivers any service fees for their first couple of trips, and after this, we give them bonuses in the form of coins that they can use to pay their service fees. Our EV drivers have already completed 63,520 rides and covered 742,568 kms in India.”

“In many countries, electric cars and electric transportation are seen more as an economic benefit than environmental protection. We want to encourage EV drivers to offer their services using our app by providing a more convenient platform, improving the app's ecosystem around electric vehicles, and offering advantages to people who offer or use electric transport in various inDrive services, whether it's ride-hailing or delivery,” he added.

Product changes to encourage use of EV

inDrive has introduced a dedicated EV transport category encompassing cars, auto-rickshaws, and motorcycles. This initiative is accompanied by comprehensive support, including verification teams, the design of distinct icons, and the activation of the feature via the Remote Control Center (RCC).

Users can now easily identify electric vehicles, indicated by blue EV markers on the map. This feature is available in India, USA, Nepal, Kazakhstan, Brazil, and Laos.

inDrive has also introduced the "Electro" icon to the profiles of drivers who own electric vehicles. This enables passengers to easily identify and select a driver with an EV.

inDrive has made significant strides towards greater sustainability in various regions, including South Asia (SA) and India. In 2023, inDrive achieved the following milestones:

Total EV data of 2023 (car + moto + rickshaw):

•      Rides (trips) - 1,206,992
•      Distance (km) - 9,644,563
•      Number of EV drivers - 5,195
•      Countries with the highest percentage of EV rides: Ukraine, Laos, Thailand, Brazil, Nepal.
•      Countries where inDrive’s EV transportation is growing fastest: India, Nepal and Brazil

About inDrive

inDrive is a global mobility and urban services platform. The inDrive app has been downloaded over 200 million times, and was the second most downloaded mobility app in 2022 and 2023. In addition to ride-hailing, inDrive provides an expanding list of urban services, including intercity transportation, freight delivery, task assistance and courier delivery. In 2023, inDrive launched New Ventures, a venture and M&A arm.

inDrive operates in 749 cities in 46 countries. Driven by its mission of challenging social injustice, the company is committed to having a positive impact on the lives of one billion people by 2030. It pursues this goal both through its core business, which supports local communities via a fair pricing model; and through the work of inVision, its non-profit arm. inVision’s community empowerment programs help to advance education, sports, arts and sciences, gender equality and other vital initiatives.