On July 31, BYD and Uber announced a multi-year strategic partnership, planning to introduce 100,000 new BYD electric vehicles in key global markets to further expand Uber's electric vehicle lineup.

The cooperation is set to cover major global markets, starting in Europe and Latin America, and then gradually expanding to the Middle East, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

According to the statement, the two companies will also collaborate on developing BYD autonomous vehicles and deploying them on the Uber platform.

BYD stated that the company is a global leader in electric vehicle manufacturing, while Uber is the world's largest on-demand ride and delivery platform. The strong alliance between the two companies aims to reduce the purchase cost of electric vehicles for Uber drivers, accelerate the promotion of the Uber platform, and allow more passengers worldwide to experience a more environmentally friendly way of travel.

Furthermore, surveys indicate that the price of electric vehicles and loan channels remain the main obstacles preventing drivers from purchasing electric vehicles. Therefore, this cooperation will also provide pricing and financing support for BYD cars, including charging discounts for car owners, vehicle maintenance or insurance benefits, and financing and leasing solutions tailored to specific market conditions.

BYD Chairman and President Wang Chuanfu said, "BYD and Uber are both committed to innovation and building a cleaner, greener world together. We are delighted that BYD can join hands with Uber in moving towards this future."

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that when Uber drivers switch to electric vehicles, their longer driving hours will result in four times the emissions reduction compared to regular drivers.

Although the specific models of BYD vehicles to be provided were not mentioned, the announcement's accompanying images included the BYD Seal, Seal U SUV, and Atto 3 SUV, all of which are listed on BYD's European website.

Before this partnership, Uber had already committed to promoting EVs on its platform. In 2020, Uber announced an $800 million investment by 2025 to provide discounts for purchasing or leasing EVs, with a goal to electrify all vehicles on its platform by 2030.

To achieve this plan on time, Uber has been collaborating with relevant parties.

In 2021, Uber partnered with car rental service Hertz to offer benefits to drivers renting Teslas. However, Hertz has recently started selling most of its EV fleet. Uber has also worked with charging network providers like EVgo and Revel Transit to offer driver discounts. In London, Uber pledged £5 million to build public EV charging stations.

On the other hand, BYD is actively expanding its overseas business. At the 2023 annual shareholder meeting in June, Wang Chuanfu stated that BYD's future investments would focus mainly on overseas markets to meet the requirements for localizing the industrial chain.

In 2023, BYD's overseas sales of new energy passenger vehicles surpassed 240,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 337%, making it the Chinese brand with the most new energy vehicle exports that year. In the first half of 2024, BYD exported a total of 203,400 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 173.8%.

Currently, BYD's commercial vehicles have a presence on six continents, including international metropolises such as Amsterdam, London, Tokyo, and São Paulo, with cumulative deliveries exceeding 80,000 units. The partnership with Uber is one of its largest agreements in the shared mobility sector in recent years.

It is noteworthy that this partnership comes amid escalating tensions between China and the US in the automotive industry. In May this year, the US raised tariffs on Chinese EVs to 102.5%. Consequently, the joint statement did not mention the US market. In July, the EU announced an additional 17.4% tariff on BYD's imported EVs.

In the field of autonomous driving, Uber has been a pioneer, conducting multiple explorations in this domain.

In 2023, Uber partnered with Google's Waymo, expanding the partnership in April to offer autonomous delivery services via self-driving cars or robots in parts of the United States and Japan.

BYD Executive Vice President and BYD Americas CEO Stella Li stated, "BYD has been promoting sustainable mobility globally, and our collaboration with Uber is a significant step toward this vision. This cooperation marks a new chapter in the electrification of urban mobility, and we look forward to seeing our cutting-edge electric vehicles become a common sight on city streets worldwide."

Previously, BYD had a relatively conservative stance on autonomous driving, with Wang Chuanfu having explicitly expressed a negative attitude toward the technology. However, at a recent BYD shareholders' meeting, his remarks showed a subtle shift.

He stated, "In terms of smart driving, we may have started slightly later. However, to date, we have assembled a research and development team of four to five thousand people to tackle this, and we plan to invest around 100 billion yuan in the project in the future, quickly advancing to the forefront of the industry."