By Beatriz Garcia
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Passenger transport app 99, controlled by Chinese Didi Chuxing, announced on Tuesday a partnership with companies in the electric vehicle (EV) sectors to boost the sector in Brazil.
The coalition called Alliance for Sustainable Mobility also includes Raízen; moved; Ipiranga, from Ultrapar; United; Zletric, Caoa Cherry; and Tupinambá Energia, and intends to increase sales of electric vehicles, create 10,000 public charging stations by 2025 and have 100% of the app’s electric fleet by 2030.
99 currently has 750,000 active drivers on its platform, of which about 190 are hybrid vehicles, according to the company.
The program aims to increase the share of electric vehicles in new car sales in the country from 2% to 10%. 99 plans to add at least 300 electric cars this year, with a goal of reaching 10,000 by 2025 and having 100% of its fleet zero-carbon by 2030.
According to the company, the cars will be acquired partly through partnerships with rental companies and automakers, partly with its own resources. “With the lessons learned from this first phase, the company will study the best way to make the 10,000 electric vehicles available to drivers by 2025 until reaching 100% of the fleet in 2030,” said the company.
To make the model viable, the alliance will seek to boost the fleet’s electrification infrastructure, with public charging stations, facilitate rental between app drivers and support automakers and other companies in the chain.
“The adoption of electric cars rose 100% in one year. These cars have less environmental impact, preserve people’s health and also reduce fuel costs by up to 75%, but they are still much more expensive than conventional ones”, said Thiago Hipólito, director of the DriverLAb innovation center, at 99.
The 99 innovation center is driving the alliance. The center was announced in March with an investment forecast of 250 million reais over the next 3 years, of which 100 million still in 2022.
