They want to move away from the "black car" roots that was embodied by the original branding. Silver badge, dark motifs, etc. all evoke the limo/upscale transportation service and the new brand is all about the ways they've moved beyond that.

I personally don't like the work too much but I get why they had to rebrand. The biggest challenge I see is the disconnect between what their internal culture appears to be to us techies (extremely cutthroat, willing to bend rules to sabotage competitors) vs. the brand they present to the world (we love kittens, we move cities).