UBER · Earnings call · 2026Q3T · Full report

Autonomous Vehicle Investment

Uber Technologies, Inc · 2026-11-04 · Importance 64 · Surprise 42 · In source text

Uber’s announced autonomous ecosystem commitment totals $10 billion, including investments in partners and AV fleets, subject to deliverables. Management expects about 700 fully driverless vehicles on the network by year-end 2026 and 2,000 by the end of 2027, with a longer-term goal of tens of thousands in 2028 and beyond. Uber has a $1 billion financing arrangement with Santander for traditional fleet partners and is working on infrastructure and vehicle financing for AV fleets. The CFO said Uber expects third-party capital to finance scaled deployment, although the CEO said early AV vehicles will be placed on Uber’s balance sheet because residual values are not yet established.

Key facts

• Uber expects a $1 billion financing arrangement with Santander, established earlier in 2026, to serve as a template for potential AV fleet financing.
• Uber committed $10 billion to the AV ecosystem, subject to certain deliverables, including investments in partners and AV fleets.
• Uber expects capital deployment for approximately 700 driverless vehicles in 2026 and 2,000 by the end of 2027 to be fairly limited.
• Uber expects to announce infrastructure and vehicle financing arrangements as it continues working on AV fleet financing setups.
• Uber intends to bring in third-party capital as its AV fleet scales to more than 10,000 vehicles in 2028 and beyond.
• Uber’s long-run expectation is for AV fleets to be financed with third-party capital rather than Uber’s balance sheet.
• Uber expects to put AV vehicles on its balance sheet in the early days because AV residual values are not yet established.
• Uber expects vehicle costs to decline over time and is working with OEMs to obtain advantaged pricing through scale.

Impact estimates