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Uber launches electric car service featuring fleet of Teslas

Uber Comfort Electric is part of the company's clean-energy push.
Tesla
Tesla vehicles in front of a showroom.John Thys / AFP via Getty Images

Uber is launching an electric vehicle service that will allow users to request rides in electric vehicles.

The service, called Uber Comfort Electric, which is debuting in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Dubai, features electric vehicles from Tesla and Polestar.

The rollout comes a year after Uber announced its partnership with Hertz to make up to 50,000 Teslas available for Uber drivers to rent by 2023. Polestar, a unit of Volvo, has also signed an agreement to supply Hertz with 65,000 electric cars over the next five years.

"As part of Uber’s global commitment to becoming a zero-emissions mobility platform by 2040, we’re continuing to take steps to help you go electric," the company said in a statement.

Uber is also adding more features to its platform to offer incentives for drivers to switch to electric vehicles, including an EV cost calculator and a map showing where EV chargers are located.

The EV features are part of a suite of announcements Uber unveiled Monday. It also launched Uber Travel, which is designed to coordinate a rider's car bookings for each leg of a longer journey.

The company is also rolling out Uber Charter, which will let users book buses for group gatherings. The company is partnering with the bus group US Coachways to facilitate vetted, third-party vehicles and drivers. It is also offering a new voucher program for bookers to cover the cost of rides for guests.

And Uber is making it possible to sports fans to order food ahead at stadium concessions by Uber Eats or Postmates.

Although Uber rides and food orders grew in the first quarter of 2022, the company is still not profitable, and its share price has been dragged down in the broader sell-off among tech companies. In an email this month obtained by CNBC, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told employees that going forward, the company would have to treat hiring "as a privilege" as it sought to cut costs.

“It’s clear that the market is experiencing a seismic shift and we need to react accordingly,” Khosrowshahi said.