Uber has been forced to offer drivers a £5,000 grant to buy electric vehicles as the company races to eliminate petrol cars from its London fleet. The taxi-hailing app will give the money to drivers for new or used cars and has also negotiated discounts of up to £17,000 on new cars with retailers. Uber pledged in 2017 that all drivers in London would be using fully electric vehicles (EVs) by the end of 2025. It has charged a “clean air fee” to encourage uptake of EVs, allowing the company to build up a £145m fund to pay for the subsidies now being offered. However, with just over a year and a half until the deadline, just a quarter of all miles driven by Uber in London are with electric cars. Although this is the most of any Uber city, the 2025 target is under pressure owing to slowing interest in EVs, the high cost of charging and higher interest rates. The company conceded that it needed to introduce new incentives to encourage drivers to buy electric cars. Uber said the grants and discounts meant drivers could save up to £22,000 on a new EV. The cost of a high-end Kia EV6,...