The taxi industry has witnessed immense success with new ride-sharing apps gaining popularity and changed the way the taxi industry works. Customers are using taxi booking apps as it offers various advantages and is one of the best ways to book a cab. Some of the advantages offered by a taxi booking app are affordability, convenience, and personalization. However, there are various challenges in the ride-sharing services that are equally apparent.
With the advancement in technology, companies providing taxi dispatch apps are moving towards electric and autonomous vehicles. Companies such as Uber are also moving to all-electric vehicles and also help in reducing emissions. According to EPA, Toyota Prius Eco is one of the most efficient gasoline hybrids that emits 158 gm of greenhouse gas per mile and uses only 5.9 barrels of oil per year. Most efficient electric vehicles consume nearly 0.2 barrels of oil per year and emit 0 gm of gas per mile. Moreover, while charging on renewable energy, electric vehicles are the cleanest form of transportation.
Taxi dispatch app providers are focusing on developing apps that can work with electric vehicles and are preparing to provide the foundation for ride-sharing companies and government officials for expansion.
General Motor’s Chevy Bolt Electric Vehicles for Lyft Drivers
The experiment in London presents a picture of the long-range electric vehicles in taxi fleets and the taxi dispatch app providers are focusing on learning how EVs work in other countries such as North America. GM also provided first Chevy Bolt EVs for Lyft drivers who took the program in the Express Drive program.
With the EVs capable of traveling and covering more than 238 miles on a single charge and can cover nearly 400 miles along with the break of 20 minutes for charging fast. Moreover, the low operating cost of electric vehicles is one of the biggest factors in using a high-mileage fleet. The taxi booking apps also provide services at a lower cost, this neutralizes the upfront cost thereby, leading to widespread adoption. The drivers can also test how EV works as the ride-sharing car, hence, the young generation of consumers can know how electric cars work.
Autonomous Electric Vehicle Taxi Services
Taxi fleets and taxi dispatch app providers are focusing on gathering data on the viability of electric vehicles, automakers are also joining other companies in testing autonomous cars for checking if taxi booking app can work properly with autonomous vehicles. Uber has already conducted an experiment with self-driving car Ford Fusion Hybrid and has provided a glimpse of how the transportation industry can improve.
Electric vehicles are contributing to the environment by reducing the emission and traffic vastly. Moreover, increasing concerns on the air quality is also motivating companies to opt for autonomous vehicles on the road across countries. Ford has also announced that it is providing a self-driving vehicle for taxi dispatch app providers to be released by 2021. Moreover, companies such as Lyft and Uber are planning the best route for tracking autonomous vehicles, as drivers are the biggest expenses in the taxi dispatch app business model.
Effects of Self-Driving Electric Fleets
With the fleet owners focusing on developing and announcing new vehicle technologies and there are some effects to consider, moreover, with the evolution of the latest technologies many obstacles in the adoption of electric vehicles are disappearing. In the past, the charging infrastructure was also a problem, however, with the number of fast charging structures the adoption of electric vehicles is increasing rapidly in developed nations across countries. The upgrades in the electric vehicles at better cost make electric vehicles viable for taxi dispatch software providers.
In the next few years, with increasing adoption of electric vehicles, fleet owners can witness massive drop in the labor cost, get access to more efficient routes, few battery concerns, less fuel cost, and getting opportunities to take part in pilot programs by the government.
To remain competitive in the market, fleet owners are focusing on providing taxi dispatch apps that can work better with self-driving and electric vehicles. This is also resulting in the mobile app development companies designing apps that can work well with electric and autonomous vehicles. App development companies are also integrating new features and functionalities that can work best with the self-driving and electric cars, thereby, enhancing the user experience.