The Verge: Lyft expands its EV and hybrid booking option to 14 more US markets

‘Green’ mode will only be available to business travelers but is part of the company’s plan for its vehicles to be 100 percent electric by the end of 2030.

Green mode, a Lyft ridehailing option that lets travelers specifically request a hybrid or fully electric vehicle, is expanding to 14 new US markets starting April 17th. These areas include San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Boston, New York City, Chicago, San Diego, Washington, DC, Austin, Denver, Orange County, Sacramento, and Phoenix. 

Riders will need a business profile to use the Green mode feature, which is available to anyone with a work email address. Lyft spokesperson CJ Macklin said this restriction is meant to allow the company to test the ridehailing option with a smaller selection of its users and that the plan is to make it more widely available over time.

The lower-emissions option is part of Lyft’s attempt to have a 100 percent electric vehicle fleet by the end of 2030. As part of the push, the company announced a series of cash incentives and charging discounts for its drivers last year. That should help with the supply of electric rides, while today’s announcement should help encourage demand for them. Green mode rides cost $1 more than standard rides, with this additional fee being split between the driver and Lyft.

Lyft’s Green mode isn’t brand-new. It was originally introduced in Seattle in 2019 before expanding to Portland. But a lack of demand caused Lyft to drop the option in the Seattle market in 2021, and it subsequently focused on Portland. Later this month, however, the lower-emission option will return to Seattle along with the 13 other markets.

Shifting to lower-emissions vehicles is important if the ridehailing industry hopes to reduce the extra pollution created when its services are selected over alternatives like public transit, biking, or walking. One study from 2020 suggested that ridehailing trips emit 69 percent more pollution on average than the trips they replace. Switching to electric vehicles was one of the recommendations of the study, alongside pooling more journeys.

Lyft’s main US rival, Uber, has a low-emissions ridehailing option of its own called Uber Green, which is already available in a substantial number of markets. In early 2021, Uber said it would be expanding the option to over 1,400 cities in North America, and it’s also available internationally in markets like London. The exact specifics of Uber Green appear to vary by region, however. Uber’s US site notes that it gives riders the option of traveling in “hybrid and fully electric vehicles,” while in London, it offers 100 percent electric vehicles.