Kia, Uber form electric mobility partnership in Europe

South Korea’s second-largest automaker Kia Corp. has forged a partnership with Uber Technologies Inc. to supply electric vehicles in Europe for the US-based ride-hailing company.

Under the partnership, Kia will offer Uber drivers in 20 European markets deals on buying, leasing, financing and renting Niro crossovers and Kia Soul EVs, according to the Korean carmaker on Wednesday.

The move is aimed at promoting the adoption of EVs and the expansion of the electric car-charging infrastructure in major European cities, Kia said.

The partnership will also help the ride-hailing giant achieve its goal of operating more than 100,000 electric vehicles in Europe by 2025 and become a zero-emission mobility platform across Europe by 2030.

Uber aims to have about half of its rides in seven European cities – Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Lisbon, London, Madrid and Paris – covered by electric cars by 2025 and hopes to get up to 30,000 Uber drivers into Kia’s battery electric vehicle (BEV) range by 2030.

“This exciting partnership with Uber heralds another important milestone for BEVs and sustainable zero-emissions mobility in Europe,” Jason Song, president of Kia Europe, said in a statement.

Anabel Diaz, regional general manager for EMEA, Uber, said in the same statement: “We’re proud to be working with Kia to make sure drivers across Europe have access to best-in-class electric vehicles at an affordable price. Zero-emissions mobility is more than just an aim for us. It’s a necessity.”

“As Europe continues to reopen, we are committed to playing our part in cleaning up urban transport, so this partnership is crucial in our efforts to advance the electrification of our platform across Europe by 2030.”

KIA’S PLAN S STRATEGY

The partnership is part of Kia’s Plan S strategy, revealed earlier this year, which will see eco-friendly models take a 40% share of all Kia sales globally by the end of 2030.

Under the Plan S roadmap, Kia aims to launch 11 all-electric models by 2026 and sell 880,000 pure electric cars by 2030.

Kia plans to sell 1.6 million eco-friendly cars by 2030, accounting for 40% of its total global sales by then.

Write to Il-Gue Kim at Black0419@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.