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New York City pushes Uber & Lyft fleets to be zero-emissions by 2030

Tesla Model 3 in NYC (Photo: Teslarati)

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that Uber and Lyft will be required to have a zero-emissions fleet by 2030 during his State of the City speech on Thursday. The plans are expected to affect the estimated 100,000 for-hire vehicles operating within the city.

Mayor Adams noted in his State of the City address that NYC is committed to making the city healthier and more sustainable, and one way to do that is to electrify the vehicles in the Big Apple. Both Uber and Lyft will be expected to support the transition of EVs, as the plan intends to help relieve NYC’s for-hire drivers of some costs. The New York City government’s release regarding the State of the City address includes language that seems to indicate the businesses will be responsible for supporting their employees “with no new costs for individual drivers.”

The Mayor noted that both Uber and Lyft are embracing the shift, as both companies have committed to long-term goals that will see drivers switch to EVs by the end of 2030. Additionally, Adams said that New York City residents should attempt to drive an EV. It plans to support this with plans to establish more EV charging infrastructure throughout all five boroughs.

Uber CEO sets deadline for drivers to move away from gas cars

With ride-hail drivers classified as independent contractors who use their personal vehicles to drive, convincing them to buy or lease a new electric car may not be easy. One solution to that problem is the partnership between Hertz and Uber, allowing Uber drivers to rent EVs at a discounted weekly rate.

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In January, Hertz expanded that partnership in Europe by making 25,000 EVs available to European Uber drivers. Similar plans could be utilized in the United States with proper funding. The fleets will be regulated through the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, according to The Verge.

In a statement to Teslarati, Josh Gold, Uber’s Senior Director, Public Policy & Communications, touched upon important goal with the city:

“We applaud the Mayor’s ambition for reducing emissions, an important goal we share. Uber has been making real progress to become the first zero-emissions mobility platform in North America, and there’s much more to do. We look forward to working with the TLC to achieve zero-emissions in New York City in a way that benefits drivers, riders, and the city.”

Teslarati also reached out to Lyft, but did not immediately receive a response.

Revel, the ridesharing service that launched a fleet of Tesla Model Ys in 2021, has provided drivers with vehicles and a platform to make money and have access to benefits. Revel CEO Frank Reig said that he commends Mayor Adams’ move to push Uber and Lyft to fully sustainable fleets:

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“As New York City’s first all-electric rideshare service, we know Mayor Adams’ ambitious plan to electrify the for-hire-vehicle industry is both doable and essential. This is what real leadership looks like. Revel will be increasing the amount of fast charging stalls six-fold over the next two years in neighborhoods where drivers live and work, making owning and operating an EV a reality for the industry.”

Your feedback is welcome. If you have any comments or concerns or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter at @JohnnaCrider1.

Teslarati is now on TikTok. Follow us for interactive news & more. Teslarati is now on TikTok. Follow us for interactive news & more. You can also follow Teslarati on LinkedInTwitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Johnna Crider is a Baton Rouge writer covering Tesla, Elon Musk, EVs, and clean energy & supports Tesla's mission. Johnna also interviewed Elon Musk and you can listen here

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NYC Comptroller moves to sue Tesla for securities violations

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MINISTÉRIO DAS COMUNICAÇÕES, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is urging the NYC Law Department to sue Tesla for securities violations related to CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Lander said the basis for the potential litigation lies on “material misstatements from Tesla claiming that CEO Elon Musk spends significant time on the company and is highly active in its management, despite his helming the Trump Administration’s DOGE initiative.”

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It is a common complaint amongst some Tesla shareholders who are less than enthusiastic about Musk’s involvement in DOGE. Some feel as if Musk is not concerned about Tesla, especially as the stock has dropped over 28 percent this year. However, Musk has continued to double down on his position within the U.S. government.

Nevertheless, Musk’s position in Tesla is still very apparent. He headed an All-Hands meeting just two weeks ago that showed his commitment to the company as he outlined future plans and even joked to employees that they should hold onto their stock.

However, Lander believes Musk’s involvement has hurt New York City pension systems, which have lost over $300 million so far this year. He said:

“In less than three months, Tesla stock has lost nearly 40% of its value, with losses over $300 million for the New York City pension systems. We have long expressed concerns that the Tesla board has failed to provide independent oversight, or to require that Musk – or someone else – serve as a full-time CEO.”

Lander went on to say that “material misstatements from Tesla misled investors about his role at the company,” stating this was his reasoning for calling on the Law Department to file securities litigation against the company.

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He believes taking it to court will force changes and will return Tesla shares back to a level that will benefit pension systems in New York City:

“Shareholder litigation could force the changes in governance and leadership that Tesla needs, and help recover some of our pension systems’ losses. Otherwise, we may need to consider divestment.”

The pension systems would be able to pursue financial damages to cover losses and seek governance changes, it says.

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Tesla is testing a Model 3 with some mysterious cameras in the U.S.

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Credit: u/Ready_Medium_6693

Tesla is testing a Model 3 with some mysterious cameras, potentially hinting toward the imminent release of the Cybercab and robotaxi platform in the United States.

After Tesla unveiled the Cybercab in Los Angeles in early October, the company suggested that it would be on its way to launching driverless rides in the U.S. in the near future.

Now, Tesla is inching toward a driverless ride-hailing service in Austin, Texas, among some other potential locations, but it is still working toward a platform that is robust enough to handle it.

Although the company’s Full Self-Driving suite is one of the more advanced on the market, Tesla is still working to accomplish what it feels is a mode of transportation that is safer than a human driver. The robotaxi and Cybercab rollouts will likely accomplish that, but there is still work to be done beforehand.

Now, Tesla is testing a Model 3 in the U.S. that was spotted in several different locations in the Northeastern part of the country, as cameras are seen on this vehicle in locations that are not necessarily typical for what it offers currently:

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Another one is seen here:

Interestingly, we saw similar camera locations on the Cybercab at the event in October. Tesla is not testing the Cybercab but instead implementing these cameras on a comparable position on its other vehicles.

These are the cameras we spotted on the Cybercab at the event in October:

In the past, Tesla has used a variety of strategies to measure self-driving accuracy, including LiDAR, which has been seen on some testing mules that we have spotted out in public.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that the company does not need LiDAR on testing mules for ground truth, but we still spot them from time to time on public roads.

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It’s an appropriate way just to cross Ts and dot Is:

Tesla Model X testing mule spotted with LiDAR rig ahead of Robotaxi event

The company is still moving toward that initial rollout of driverless ride-hailing in Austin in June, and some company executives have stated that the Cybercab will be the vehicle it uses for these initial rides.

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Tesla adds security feature to Android with latest software update

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Credit: @greggertruck/X

Tesla is bolstering its release of features to Android users as it is rolling out some new things with its latest software update.

Update v4.43.5 will see Tesla add a Dashcam Viewer for Android phones, a new feature that will make it simpler to access and manage both Dashcam and Sentry Mode videos. This has been available to iPhone users for some time, but Android owners have not had access to this quite yet.

Tesla describes the release of the feature in release notes (via Not a Tesla App):

“The Dashcam Viewer is now available in the Tesla app for Android users.

The Dashcam Viewer makes it easy to access and manage your car’s Dashcam and Sentry Mode videos. Accessing videos on your phone is faster and more convenient, but it does come with a few requirements.

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The Dashcam Viewer in the Tesla app allows you to view, delete, or save video clips right from your device. This should result in higher quality content being shared online and fewer videos of owners recording their Tesla’s screens with their phones.”

The feature creates a more convenient option to view things that your Tesla has captured on its dashcam or on its external cameras through Sentry Mode, its security camera system that records things that happen around the vehicle.

Sentry Mode has been a great addition for Tesla owners lately, as more and more instances of vandalism have been occurring in the past few months.

It seems Tesla might have made it a point to roll this feature out, especially as it would allow those who are getting Sentry Mode alerts to capture footage of keying or tire slashing, two common techniques used by those who dislike Tesla and/or Elon Musk.

Tesla quietly added this extra Sentry Mode feature to deter vandals

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The last time Tesla rolled out some features to Android owners was in January when it beefed up offerings for those who do not use iOS. The January update saw Phone Key Improvements and Hands-Free Trunk Opening make their way to Android users.

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