Uber Says The Quiet Part Loud

Do you remember how weird it was to get into your first Uber?

And years later, how strange and awkward is it to get into a regular taxi where payment isn’t automatic?

Times have changed.

I used this image in several presentations over the years (I don’t know if Carol is even on Twitter (X) anymore).

A decade ago, bro-culture aficionado and disgraced second Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick, purported that the company would ultimately go neck and neck with car dealerships. He wants to make Uber so affordable that riding Uber consistently would be cheaper than actually owning a car. businessinsider.com

In the years since Kalanick’s departure, Uber’s mission to end car ownership looked like it took a backseat.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s third CEO, reshaped the company’s core business, expanding beyond ride-sharing into food delivery and freight logistics while also achieving profitable growth. quartr.com, apnews.com

The logistics focus served Uber well during the pandemic when ridership fell off a cliff and user subscriptions exploded as more folks wanted food delivered to their homes. fool.com, nytimes.com

Uber and their main competitor, Lyft, have long argued that ride-hailing has the potential to make cities better by easing traffic and reducing personal car ownership.

However, between 2010 and 2016, traffic congestion in San Francisco increased by about 60 percent, and Uber and Lyft were responsible for more than half of that increase. theverge.com

In 2019, the two companies partnered on a research study to prove the opposite. Unfortunately, their own data suggested that while they are vastly outstripped by personal and commercial vehicles, Uber and Lyft are still responsible for significant shares of vehicle miles travelled. theverge.com

Those results didn’t assuage Uber’s growth ambitions. Uber has been on a tear over the last year, focused on aggressive expansion and doubling down on partnerships.

Uber partnered with BYD to help accelerate global EV adoption with plans to add 100,000 new BYD electric vehicles onto the Uber platform across key markets. investor.uber.com

At the beginning of the month, Uber debuted a simpler version of its rideshare app to make it easier for older adults to get around. bloomberg.com

Uber partnered with Turo to allow Turo vehicle rentals directly through the Uber app in the US. prnewswire.com

Uber and Waymo announced an expansion of their existing partnership to make the Waymo Driver, and ultimately self-driving robotaxis, more broadly available to consumers via Uber in Austin and Atlanta. investor.uber.com

Not wanting to put all their driverless eggs in one robotaxi basket, Uber and Momenta announced a strategic agreement to introduce autonomous vehicles to the Uber platform in international markets outside the US and China. investor.uber.com

Uber and Chinese autonomous vehicle technology company WeRide plan to expand a commercial robotaxi partnership and bring their service to another 15 cities around the globe over the next five years. techcrunch.com

Back in the USA, Uber and VW announced a partnership to deploy a fleet of thousands of all-electric, fully autonomous ID. Buzz AD vehicles in multiple US markets starting in Los Angeles. investor.uber.com , techcrunch.com

Startup May Mobility plans to deploy its autonomous vehicles on the Uber platform by the end of 2025, starting in Arlington, Texas, as part of a multi-year partnership. techcrunch.com

Andrew Macdonald, Uber's SVP who oversees its autonomous vehicle operations, said that while human drivers would remain crucial to its ride-hailing business, they would soon face serious competition from self-driving taxis in city centers. "I am almost certain that there will be more Uber drivers in 10 years, not less, because I think the world will move from individual car ownership to mobility as a service," said Macdonald. businessinsider.com

Fast forward to this past week, Uber hopped back on the “ending car ownership” bandwagon in a big way. At its annual Go-Get event, the company announced Route Share, its cheapest ride option yet, and other new features and discounts designed to help customers save money on rides and deliveries. techcrunch.com, fastcompany.com

“We are complementary to public transit,” says Uber’s product chief, Sachin Kansal, in an interview. “We think of this as a journey towards lower and lower car ownership, as people transition from driving themselves over to using products like Uber Share and now Route Share.” theverge.com

Is Uber cheaper than owning a car? That depends a lot on where you live and how much you drive.

However, for many of Uber’s urban customers, that math works out in Uber’s favour.

China’s Automotive Expansion

In what I can only describe as the bastard child of an automotive three-way, the new FAW-Toyota bZ5 with BYD blade batteries rolls off the production line at the joint venture’s new energy vehicle manufacturing plant in Tianjin, China. carnewschina.com

BYD launches the e7, another all-electric vehicle with a starting price under $15,000 USD. cnevpost.com

BYD plans to establish a European hub for sales, after-sales services, and vehicle testing in Hungary. reuters.com

Chery strives to become Europe’s top-selling Chinese automaker. autonews.com

Baidu prepares to test its driverless ride-hailing service for the first time in Europe. wsj.com

CATL starts taking orders for a Hong Kong stock offering that will likely be the world’s biggest listing this year. bloomberg.com

German dealers lose faith in Chinese brands. autonews.com

Must-Know Musk News

Elon’s been surprisingly quiet. His prominent role in The Donald’s entourage appears to be fading. But the DOGE will DOGE on. cnn.com

Although Elon has pivoted away from DOGE, the Saudi summit demonstrates that he’s still loitering in the cheap seats of the Donald’s entourage. theguardian.com

In case you were wondering, the NYTs demonstrated what Elon’s personal feed on X looks like. nytimes.com

xAI’s Grok chatbot started saying horrible things. Then says it was told to say horrible things. rollingstone.com, theatlantic.com, vice.com

Tesla’s Austin robotaxis will be powered by… (wait for it) people. electrek.co

Tesla employees ask Elon Musk to resign. electrek.co

Rise Of The Machines

German-built, AI-guided, plywood (that’s right, plywood) kamikaze drones are quietly shredding radar systems and rewriting the rules of war. youtube.com

RIC Robotics just teased a 20-foot-tall, AI-driven construction robot it calls “the world’s first Giantroid.” electrek.co

Amazon expects robots to take over “ergonomically challenging tasks” while Amazon’s human employees “grow their skills in robotics maintenance.” techcrunch.com

A Beijing official says China's humanoid robots will not replace human workers. I’m gonna call bullshit on that one. reuters.com

Energy

Trans Mountain leadership is optimistic that future pipelines will carry landlocked crude to a second Canadian coastline port – be it North, East, or West – within the next decade. theglobeandmail.com

China is the top customer for Canadian oil shipped on the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline. reuters.com

Enbridge sells a stake in its Westcoast pipeline to a First Nations group. ctvnews.ca

Alberta's government has announced an indefinite freeze on industrial carbon prices. ctvnews.ca

Huge 1.3 GW Indiana solar farm will power 200,000 homes. electrek.co

Is your solar panel communicating with China? Yes, possibly. reuters.com

But Wait, There’s More

Former Jaguar design boss Ian Callum sketched out his dream modern E-Type. And for the right price, it could become a reality. motor1.com

Dodge will not offer the entry-level electric Charger Daytona R/T for 2026, leaving only the high-performance Scat Pack model. electrek.co

The Toyota bZ4x gets an upgrade and a simpler name: bZ. insideevs.com

Toyota confirmed that the C-HR EV, previously only available in Europe, will land in the US next year. theverge.com

A Ford owner initiated a proposed class-action lawsuit against Ford of Canada over defective PHEV batteries. ctvnews.ca

GM plans to cut shifts at its Oshawa assembly plant, will begin rotational layoffs in June. autonews.com

Nissan is considering shutting down two car assembly plants in Japan and some overseas factories, including their facility in Mexico. reuters.com

Nissan will cut an additional 10,000 jobs, on top of the 9,000 already announced earlier this year. carscoops.com

Honda reports 76% plunge in operating profit. cnbc.com

Honda Canada is postponing its multi-billion Canadian EV expansion for two years due to The Donald’s bullshit tariffs. insideevs.com

VW and Rivian's new $22,500 car proves cheap EVs don't have to be low-tech. businessinsider.com

The Volvo EX90's lidar sensor potentially damages smartphone cameras. caranddriver.com

Slate receives 100,000 pre-orders for new barebones EV compact pick-up. insideevs.com

Canadian EV sales plummeted 45% in March after the iZEV rebate was shut down by the federal government. autonews.com

Google plans to add Gemini, its generative AI chatbot, to all cars that support Android Auto. techcrunch.com

Apple finally launches CarPlay Ultra, their new automotive operating system, and Aston Martin deployed it first. techcrunch.com

Aurora Innovation launches autonomous truck operations in Texas, hauling freight between Dallas and Houston. caranddriver.com

Archer Aviation becomes the exclusive air taxi provider for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. electrek.co

You read to the bottom. Nice work.