| Thanks for reading Hyperdrive, Bloomberg's newsletter on the future of the auto world. Uber embarked on quite the challenge this time four years ago, wanting to transform its business with a tiny number of drivers getting around in electric vehicles into a fully zero-emission platform by 2040. That number is no longer so tiny. The average monthly EV drivers on Uber shot up to around 182,000 last quarter, a 10-fold increase in the last three years. And yet, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is under no illusion that the transition isn't happening nearly as quickly as Uber needs to achieve its goal on time. I sat down with Khosrowshahi in London on Tuesday to discuss the moves Uber has been making recently to coax its drivers out of combustion cars. The company isn't batting an eye at aligning with powerful forces that happen to be in conflict with one another. For instance, Uber recently partnered with BYD to get 100,000 of the Chinese company's cars onto its platform. Shortly thereafter, Uber urged the European Union — which is on the verge of hitting Chinese EVs with additional tariffs — to ban combustion cars from corporate fleets, including taxi and ride-hailing services.  Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. Photographer: Jose Sarmento Matos/Bloomberg Here are highlights from the conversation that have been edited for length and clarity: What would the Dara Khosrowshahi of 2020 say about where Uber is in its transition to a zero-emission platform today? We've accomplished a lot. We think that climate can be good for business and can be good business, and we're trying to demonstrate that. While the momentum with our product is there, we have a long way to go in terms of hitting those 2040 targets, and we need help. We need help from governments, in terms of EV mandates, and then other companies continuing to make the kinds of climate investments that we certainly are. We're at the point of having momentum, and now we've got to push it all the way until 2040. There's a lot left to do, but the momentum is exactly where I'd want it. In 2020, Uber said it would commit $800 million by 2025 to helping drivers transition to EVs. Would it help your cause to do that again — commit to another big number for the next five years? I think we're already demonstrating that we're 110% behind this, and the big challenges for us are getting manufacturers to continue to make investments in EVs. Some have been pulling back, in terms of their targets, and we don't want them to. Between the investments we've made and the alliances we're putting together with OEMs and charging infrastructure partners, we think the momentum is going to carry us through. Does Uber hold some sway with carmakers, particularly if you can clearly signal you've got drivers that you want to put in their EVs? In the end, you have to talk with dollars. OEMs are going to lean into where the dollars are, and where the growth is. And for partners, for example, like Kia, we have this incredible deal on Kias in London, and the number of Kias that our drivers are buying is unprecedented. So, in the end, you have to come to them with demand, and if you come with demand, then good things happen. Last year, Germany dialed back EV incentives, and some other European countries have followed suit. Budgets are strained. Are you sensing a pullback on the government side, too? We are, but we're engaging with governments at all levels to keep encouraging them to lean in. To the extent that governments are looking to target their incentives more, we're really encouraging a conversation around targeting incentives on high-mileage drivers. In the past, too many people kept score based on the number of vehicles sold. The score is really based on the number of miles driven. The average Uber driver will drive four to five times the miles that the average driver does. That's the discussion we're having, which is, don't pull back, be targeted, be more effective. You recently urged the EU to ban internal combustion engine vehicles for corporate fleets by 2030. Why? Market forces aren't yet strong enough to continue to drive change here, so you need market forces along with smart, targeted policy. We're all in, obviously — you know about our targets, in terms of 2040. Unless we get companies and governments that continue to lean in, those targets are going to be very, very difficult to achieve. Could it cost us more, short-term? It could, but we think the long-term payoff is there. Is there a degree of gamesmanship to this? Are you better able to weather this challenge than some of your competitors? In the end, we're in the business to grow, and to grow the right way, and we do want climate leadership to actually represent strong business strategy, right? And so, to some extent, that's the way that we can drag our competitors along with us. What we're focused on is smart policy from government now, and we do think that you have to be both brave and smart in these times. Is the dearth of affordable EVs your biggest challenge? How big a deal was the BYD partnership, in this regard? The product — the breadth of product, the quality of the product, and obviously the affordability of their vehicles — is quite extraordinary. There's nothing like it. We're very proud to partner with a company of that capability and that sensibility. We think that if we can help BYD penetrate into certain markets in the right way — within the scope of everything going on in terms of tariffs, et cetera, in various parts of the world — we think that can be a very positive factor in terms of the climate and introducing really high-quality, affordable cars to the mass market. We don't view borders and national policy as something that should get in the way of all of us improving the climate. A lot of our drivers, especially in Latin American markets, Asian markets, buy BYD cars and love their cars. As a result of that, we decided, hey, let's take this relationship global. I was there, in-person, and visited them in in China. We built a great relationship, and hopefully we can improve that. Do you see autonomy eventually being a driver of affordability for Uber, that enables more progress on the EV transition? I think that autonomous is going to hit scale, mass-market scale, probably five to 10 years after EVs. But when we think about the future, we're really betting on an electric, shared and autonomous future. We just think that's a better future for everybody. Want to hear more?Look out for the next episode of Bloomberg Green's Zero podcast. Host Akshat Rathi will speak with Uber's CEO about whether the company can meet its goal to go fully electric in London, how long it will take to get 100,000 BYD cars on the platform, and what the future holds for autonomous and flying taxis. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or YouTube so you never miss an episode.
 A Chevrolet Silverado electric pickup at the New York International Auto Show in March. Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg General Motors hinted it's developing a lower-cost electric pickup that could boast 350 miles of range. The Detroit-based automaker is working to secure supply of lithium iron phosphate batteries in North America, said Kurt Kelty, GM's vice president in charge of battery strategy. Chinese automakers often use LFP batteries in their EVs due to low costs, making them an ideal candidate to power more affordable EVs. "We have enough space in our truck platform that, with clever engineering, we can use low-cost LFP batteries to get range over 350 miles," Kelty said during GM's investor day. "Our team is actively working to localize supply of LFP." | 
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