Mobility business Bolt is launching new Tesla ride-hailing fleets in 10 European cities to help drive EV adoption.

An initial 350 ‘Bolt green’ Tesla vehicles will launch in partnership with local fleet owners this year

The global shared mobility operator will co-finance an initial 350 ‘Bolt green’ Tesla vehicles in partnership with local fleet owners in 2024, with plans to scale the programme up significantly in 2025.

The cars are already up and running in Tallinn, Warsaw and Lisbon, and will extend to further cities across Europe, including Amsterdam, Madrid, Berlin and Brussels. The rollout is supported by the recent expansion of partnerships with public charging network developers in France and across the Baltics.

The new fleets are intended to help drivers get onboard with EVs and remove barriers to adoption. Research found only two out of 10 non-EV ride-hailing drivers plan to switch to an EV in the next two years, with the main obstacles including the purchase cost of the vehicles, as well as the price and availability of public fast charging.

Paddy Partridge, Bolt’s senior vice president – rides, said: “Our partnership with fleet companies marks the first step towards accelerating the adoption in key regions. The feedback from Warsaw and Lisbon, the initial cities launched, shows keen interest from fleet owners and we are confident in scaling up further through 2025.”

Bolt operates ride-hailing alongside a range of shared mobility services including scooter and e-bike rental and car-sharing, in a move to enhance existing transport networks in cities and provide a practical alternative to using and owning a private car in urban areas. Around 70% of Bolt customers now do not own a car.

Bolt’s long-term environmental commitment is to become a carbon net-zero company by 2040 and it’s already offering fully electric vehicles, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and electric motorbikes under Green and Electric categories in selected 70 cities in Europe and Africa.