If you request a ride in Dallas this month, you may be greeted by an all-electric vehicle.
Dallas ride-hailing company Alto launched its first electric vehicle, the Kia EV-9, in April. The 12 Kia vehicles are the first step toward the company's goal of adding 100 more electric vehicles to Dallas by the end of the year. Passengers will not pay any additional fees to ride in an electric vehicle, and the move will have no impact on the company's pricing structure.
“We believe electrification is the future, and our goal is to be 100% electric,” said Will Coleman, CEO and founder. “Migration times vary from city to city, but we know we can scale very quickly from here.”
Alto operates differently than competitors like Uber and Lyft. The vehicle is owned by the company and the driver is an employee on his W-2, not a contractor. Drivers can control things like music and conversation preferences within the app, and the Alto uses a single vehicle type. The internal combustion engine car was the Buick Enclave, and the electric car was his EV-9.
Drivers receive standardized training on driving EVs, reducing the risk of accidents and can expect consistency. These differences ease the transition to electric.
“Through our model, we think we can offset some of these traditional challenges with EVs. This will allow us to move more quickly and at lower costs than our competitors,” Coleman said. Stated.
Alto is not alone in its pursuit of greener transportation options. Uber has pledged to transition to a zero-emissions platform in the United States and Canada by 2030 and have 100% of its rides and deliveries done by electric vehicles or public transportation by 2040. Uber electric vehicle drivers can earn extra money for rides and charging. In addition to discounts, he can also rent EVs through partner companies.
Lyft has announced a goal of having 100% electric vehicles on its platform by 2030, and drivers will also receive discounts on fast charging.
Rideshare operators say electrification means smoother, quieter rides for passengers, and less maintenance and lower fuel costs for drivers. However, electric vehicles can have higher initial costs and repair costs, which can be a barrier for rideshare drivers.
That's the Alto's advantage, Coleman says.
“Typically, the break-even point where the cost savings from EVs are realized is at the end of the vehicle's useful life of 50, 60, 70,000 miles,” Coleman said. “Companies like ours can support these kinds of cost trade-offs better than individuals.”
Coleman says electrification is just one element of Alto's eco-friendly philosophy. By design, the company has fewer vehicles on the road than its competitors to reduce congestion, which means customers have slightly longer wait times.
“To serve the same number of customers with a 5-minute wait time and an 11-minute wait time, you actually need six to ten times fewer vehicles on the road. It's a really important part of providing services. It's an efficient solution for the city,” Coleman said.
While environmental experts agree that electric cars are cleaner on the road, some studies have questioned how much of a net benefit electrifying rideshares will be. His 2023 study from the University of Michigan estimates that the social benefits of fully electrifying rideshares are modest when factors other than emissions are considered.
Due to unreliable charging infrastructure, electric rideshare vehicles tend to be able to travel longer distances without passengers than internal combustion engines, a study has found. More time on the road means more traffic and the risk of collisions.
“EVs work very well if you want to reduce emissions and air pollution, but most of the social problems we have with cars stem from them being cars,” UM said. said Parth Vaishnav, senior study author and assistant professor in the School of Environment and Sustainability. . “Traffic, collisions, noise, EVs don't solve any of these problems.”
Coleman said Alto cars are returned to the base between shifts and live there, so drivers don't have to worry about finding a charger on the road.
“Being able to have both our unique dedicated charger and the vehicle in one place allows us to overcome some of that constraint in a way that an individual wouldn't be able to do,” Coleman said. “We believe that our business model and the way we work will allow us to make this transition much more quickly than our competitors and others in our sector.”
