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ChargerHelp! Fixing and Learning from EV Charging Stations

PLUS: Uber Drivers in California to Lease Ford Mach-Es, Intelligent Code Review Assistant

Mornin’ miners ⛏️,

Happy Friday!

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Today’s Highlights:

  • Uber Drivers in California to Lease Ford Mach-Es 🚗

  • Black-Owned Startup ChargerHelp! Improves EV Charging Station Infrastructure⚡

  • AI-Generated Idea Today: Intelligent Code Review Assistant 🖥️

Ford Creates Accessible Mach-E Lease Pilot Program for Uber Drivers in California

The importance of switching to zero-emissions vehicles is catching on, as seen in Uber’s clean future program. Announced in 2020, Uber strives to be an emission-free mobility platform in North America and Europe by 2030 and globally by 2040.

In line with Uber’s commitment, Ford Next has created a pilot program named Ford Drive and collaborated with Uber. After running the program in San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in the past year, the pilot program is launching in Uber’s biggest market state, California.

California Dreamin’ with Ford EVs

In this pilot program, Ford will be giving Uber drivers in three California cities flexible and cost-effective leases on Mustang Mach-E models. During their first trial in San Diego, Uber drivers leased over 150 Mach-Es.

Ford hadn’t shared how many vehicles would be made available to Uber drivers this time around, but has announced that they are working with local dealers to purchase a fleet of Mach-Es specifically for this program.

Depending on their location, Uber drivers participating in this program are given a choice between one and four-month leases with varying rates. According to Ford’s spokesperson, the rates will probably be $199 per week for 500 miles or $249 per week for 1,000 miles. Drivers would have to pay $0.20 for every extra mile passing the limit.

To encourage Uber drivers even further, Ford has also created a zero-emission incentive for qualified Uber drivers, paying them $1 per trip performed in an EV, up to $4,000 annually.

Uber’s Continuous Efforts

This isn’t Uber’s first attempt at switching to zero-emissions vehicles. Before working directly with an automaker such as Ford, Uber has also partnered with car rental companies like Hertz, Savvy, and Hive for affordable and flexible EV leases, and Uber’s efforts have started paying off.

According to Uber’s sustainability report, almost 10% of Uber drivers’ on-trip miles in California were completed in electric vehicles by the end of 2022, and 4.1% all throughout the U.S. and Canada. Hopefully, Uber’s collaboration with Ford will push their shared goal forward.

Factoring in the multiple platforms ride-hail drivers operate on, the Ford Drive program, although exclusively accessible through the Uber Marketplace, still allows Uber drivers to use the Mach-Es for Lyft rides.

This partnership demonstrates the significance of achieving a clean future, which presents an opportunity for entrepreneurs and professionals who share the same aspiration as Ford and Uber to move forward with their green action business ideas.

ChargerHelp! Fixing and Learning from EV Charging Stations

With the growing amount of EVs being produced and sold, it is also crucial to have an abundance of charging stations up and running, accessible for everyone across every state. With the rising number of mass EV adoption, their charging technology needs to improve and catch up quickly.

Based on a survey by researchers at the University of California and a non-profit organization called Cool the Earth, more than a quarter of public EV charging stations were found to be non-functioning. This would certainly be troublesome for EV drivers in the bind.

This is the reason why charging station maintenance companies are essential and swiftly growing. A few of them include Charge Enterprises, Smart Charge America, and a black-owned, California-based startup called ChargerHelp!

ChargerHelp!’s Mission

Founded by Kameale Terry in 2020, ChargerHelp! has earned a $21.75 million total of capital support from Blue Bear Capital, Energy Impact Partners, JFF Ventures, Exelon Foundation, Autodesk Foundation, and LA Cleantech Incubator.

After running for almost 3 years, working with partners like Tritium, Duke Energy, and Southern California Edison, ChargerHelp! has managed to handle over 10,000 charging stations.

Terry’s mission to help make high-quality and long-lasting EV charging stations is built on her ideals of improving air quality and making Earth a more liveable place for everyone. By building trust-worthy infrastructure, Terry believes that more people would be encouraged to make the switch and start driving electric.

Learning while Doing

Aside from fixing these stations, ChargerHelp! also learns from them. It tracks how these stations behave and gains data across communication networks, charger types, and geographical locations. These data sets help ChargerHelp! understand why specific charging stations don’t work. This knowledge then helps ChargerHelp! slowly build a more reliable and sustainable infrastructure.

The perpetual need for improvement in EV charging station quality opens up an opportunity for professionals and entrepreneurs who are looking for infrastructure and service-related businesses, in production or management.

Today’s AI-Generated Coding Idea

Intelligent Code Review

Code reviews are an essential part of software development, but it sucks that they can be time-consuming. They also rely on manual analysis, which could potentially lead to errors and oversights. With an Intelligent Code Review Assistant, code reviewing can be revolutionized.

The intelligent code review assistant would employ advanced machine learning algorithms to automatically analyze code submissions with great quality and readability as well as adherence to coding standards. The assistant would provide developers with real-time feedback during the code review process, by:

  • Highlighting problematic areas,

  • Suggesting improvements, and

  • Offering alternative solutions.

The assistant will also have context-awareness recommendations, taking into account the project’s specific requirements, programming languages, and coding conventions. It will be ensured that the assistant’s suggestions align with the project’s guidelines and standards.

Continuously learning from feedback provided by the codebase, the assistant would enhance its analysis capabilities and adapt to the specific needs of the development team, becoming even more effective at identifying issues and offering relevant recommendations.

This intelligent code review assistant saves time, reduces errors, and ensures codebase integrity. It would streamline the code review process, improve code quality, and empower developers to create more robust and efficient software.

Meme & AI-Generated Picture

Job Posting

  • Getty Images - Principal Data Scientist, Search and Personalization - New York City, NY (Remote)

  • TransUnion - Senior Consultant Data Strategy - Chicago, IL (Remote)

  • Dropbox - Principal Machine Learning Engineer, New Initiatives - Austin, TX (Remote)

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