Dive Brief:
- Uber Technologies has hired former Tesla executive Rebecca Tinucci as its global head of sustainability, according to an internal company memo circulated Tuesday. The appointment was first reported by Bloomberg News.
- Tinucci previously served as Tesla’s head of charging and helped the carmaker ink several charging-station partnerships. She will step into her new role on Sept. 16 and report to Andrew Macdonald, Uber’s senior vice president of mobility and business operations, per the memo seen by ESG Dive.
- As Uber’s sustainability leader, Tinucci will oversee the ride-share giant’s transition to becoming an emission-free mobility platform by 2040, a goal the company initially announced in 2020 and expanded last year to include its Uber Eats delivery business.
Dive Insight:
Tinucci will oversee and help build on Uber’s sustainability strategy, which also includes a target to shift a sizable number of drivers enrolled in its platform in the U.S., Canada and Europe to electric vehicles through its Green Future program by 2025. The program provides $800 million in funding to facilitate this transition.
Tinucci comes with several years of experience in the EV sector under belt, having previously worked to finalize Tesla’s charging-station partnerships with the Ford Motor Company, General Motors and others. These deals allowed more EV drivers access to Tesla’s Supercharger network, both growing Tesla’s revenue stream and accelerating the transition to greener transportation alternatives.
“Our EV trajectory has been accelerating in recent years, with Uber drivers going electric more than 5x faster than the typical car owner, and we’re thrilled for Rebecca to take Uber’s EV and sustainability momentum to the next level,” an Uber spokesperson told ESG Dive over email.
In the internal memo announcing Tinucci’s appointment, Macdonald said her tenure at Tesla “radically improved the global charging landscape” and helped the automotive and clean energy company grow its deployment of solar and storage assets at charging sites. The Uber senior VP also credited Tinucci with pushing the company to commit to only using sustainably sourced energy at one of its charging sites.
“Rebecca’s wealth of experience driving scalable sustainability initiatives that are innovative, strategic and deeply practical, will be an incredible asset to our team at Uber,” Macdonald wrote in his email Tuesday.
