Uber announced a few big plans at its product event on Monday, including autonomous deliveries and the ability to specify if you want your ride to be an electric vehicle.
Now, to be clear, these new features will not be rolling out to everyone right away. Uber rolled out its Comfort Electric program in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Dubai, while promising it would add more cities soon. The feature lets riders choose an electric ride, similar to how you can order a larger vehicle (Uber XL) or a ride with your pet (Uber Pet).
“It’s as simple as tap a button and request a ride in a premium EV like a Tesla or Polestar,” the company wrote in a press release.
Autonomous deliveries, meanwhile, might take even longer to roll out for most folks. Uber announced Monday it would introduce two separate autonomous delivery services in L.A. One, using sidewalk robots from Serve Robotics, will make short-range deliveries. The other service, using electric autonomous cars made by Motional, will make other deliveries. At least for now, passengers will not be shuttled around in autonomous cars.
Those were the biggest takeaways from the Uber event but that wasn’t all the company announced. There’s a full rundown here, but the company also introduced features to enhance travelers’ experiences. If you connect your Gmail account, then the feature called (fittingly) Uber Travel will book rides for each leg of a trip.
“Just connect your Gmail account and we’ll do the rest, organizing your hotel, flight, and restaurant reservations all in one place for a stress-free travel experience,” the company said in its press release. You should never have to worry about getting from one place to the next.