© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A photo illustration shows the 99 app on a mobile telephone, as it is held up for a posed photograph in Sao Paulo, Brazil January 3, 2018. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker
By Andre Romani
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian ride-hailing app 99 is planning to more than double the number of electric cars serving its passengers in Brazil in the next 12 months, with a goal of reaching 1,000 vehicles, the company said on Monday.
The target was announced as the Alliance for Sustainable Mobility, a group of 11 companies founded and led by 99, had its one-year anniversary at the end of April.
Lender Banco BV, Chinese automakers BYD and Caoa Chery, car-rental firm Movida and energy group Raizen are also included in the initiative.
99, Uber (NYSE:)’s biggest rival in Brazil and controlled by China’s DiDi, closed the first year of the partnership with 485 electric vehicles running via its platform, according to Thiago Hipolito, the company’s director for innovation.
In the medium to long term, 99 aims to have 10,000 electric cars on its platform by 2025 and 100% of the fleet by 2030. The app currently has 750,000 monthly active drivers.
For now, the electric vehicles that run on 99’s application circulate only in Brazil’s financial capital, Sao Paulo.
The companies invested 35 million reais ($7.06 million) in “sustainable mobility” initiatives in the first year of the project, according to 99. There is no forecast for disbursements for this second year, the company said.
($1 = 4.9545 reais)
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