Uber unveils new products for business travelers, wedding parties, and EVs

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

At its second annual product event, the company announced new features for business travelers, group rides, and electric vehicles. The news comes as the company's CEO is renewing his efforts to make the company profitable through cost-cutting and a hiring slowdown.

Even though it is trying to rein in its costs, the company will continue to roll out new features to win new customers and expand into new fields. Since the outbreak of the H1N1 flu, the ride-sharing service has pivoted away from trying to be the Amazon of transportation and towards a more streamlined version of itself as a car service with a thriving delivery business.

The new suite of products falls under two categories, one of which is focused.

The company is launching a new product that automatically books car service trips for every part of a trip, whether it's business or personal. To give the app a peek at upcoming flights, hotel stays, and restaurant reservations, users will need to link their Gmail account to theiruber account. If you don't want to give up access to your Gmail account for the sake of the company, they are offering 10 percent back in money you can use in the app for other services as an incentive.

The company is looking to expand on its interest in party buses with a new product. This is for customers who are planning weddings, work trips, wine tastings, or anything where you need to move a large group of people. Reservations can be made through the app. In the US, the company will be launching C; across the US later this summer.

If you want to pay for a lot of rides for your wedding guests, you can get vouchers from the company. Customers can share a unique code with their guests that they can use to book a ride that has already been paid for. Vouchers are available for business customers of the company as well.

Electric vehicles will be added to the mix of the Comfort product, which is not as expensive as the Black product. The company wants to have 100 percent of its vehicles in North America by the year 2030. The new Comfort Electric product is incentivizing drivers to switch to EV. Premium EV's, like Polestar, and Ford Mustang Mach-E, would be eligible for Comfort Electric trips. It will sit alongside the company's other EV product, which gives drivers an extra fee to use electric vehicles. In addition to Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Dubai, Comfort Electric is available in other cities.

The new hub for the drivers will be on the platform. The hub is being billed as a one-stop shop to compare costs between regular cars and EV and finding charging stations.

There are a number of announcements under the "get anything" category. Customers who own a smart device can use it to order food. It will be rolled out for English-speaking customers first, followed by other languages.

The company is working with two companies to test out robot deliveries. Motional uses electric SUVs with two safety drivers in the front seats, while Serve Robotics uses delivery robots that travel on sidewalks. Customers in the Los Angeles area will be able to use the pilots from Serve and Motional.

For years, the company has been interested in using the technology to make deliveries. It was in talks with Nuro, a startup founded by two ex-Google engineers, about using the company's vehicle-sized robots to deliver food.

The company is expanding its delivery service to a few stadiums as a way to let sports fans satisfy their hunger without missing a game. Customers can skip the line at a concession stand if they order food through the app. Eligible stadiums include Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium in LA, Yankee Stadium in New York City, Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, Minute Maid Park in Houston, and PayPal Park in San Jose.