The research report titled “Digital Travel in 2023: Aiding Zero-Carbon Transportation” points out that ride-hailing and taxi services have become significant areas in promoting the electrification of vehicles. The report, jointly compiled by the Transportation Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport, Didi Development Research Institute, and other institutions, emphasizes that the electrification of transportation tools, efficient resource utilization, low-carbon travel structure, greening of power sources, and digital intelligence of the transportation system are the five key points for the low-carbon transformation of urban transportation.

The report indicates that the emission intensity and total emissions of the transportation industry are closely related to the transportation structure, the level of automobile manufacturing, travel habits, and the structure of electric power energy. The substitution of electric vehicles for fuel-powered vehicles is considered a key path to achieving a zero-carbon transformation in transportation. Although private passenger vehicles are a focal area for carbon emissions and energy conservation and emission reduction, the electrification of public service vehicles and taxis can drive the transformation in the private car consumption sector.

In recent years, many provinces and cities have introduced policies requiring that newly added or replaced taxi and ride-hailing vehicles must be new energy vehicles, and the electrification transformation of the shared travel field is accelerating. The shared travel sector has advantages such as a high level of digitalization, strong platform promotion, and strong operational attributes. Since 2016, several provinces and cities have introduced relevant policies to support this transformation.

In addition, the shared travel model effectively alleviates congestion by reducing the number of vehicles on the road, thereby lowering energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In the second half of 2022, the proportion of pure electric vehicle mileage on the Didi platform’s ride-hailing exceeded 50%, and through various shared travel models, approximately 3.38 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions were reduced.