Uber adds fuel surcharge for non-EV fares in Australia amid petrol price rises

Trips in electric vehicles will be exempt from the temporary fee of 5 cents a kilometre, rideshare firm says Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Uber customers in Australia will be charged a fuel surcharge for almost two months from Wednesday unless they ride in an electric vehicle. Trips in petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles will attract an extra fee of 5 cents a kilometre from 15 April to 8 June, Uber announced on Monday. Surcharge revenue would go straight to its drivers to cover their fuel costs, a spokesperson said. Each rider in a shared Uber Pool trip would have to pay their own surcharge. The surcharge would cover the higher costs faced by a driver paying 50 cents a litre more for fuel amid fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran, assuming a fuel economy of 10 litres per 100km for the typical trip. Battery EV trips will be exempt and can be booked through the Uber Electric option, formerly Uber Green, which excludes hybrids and non-electric cars. The move comes weeks after other rideshare and delivery companies added fuel surcharges or fuel relief payments to account for rising fuel prices, with u