Ford offering flexible EV leases to Uber drivers

Ford is partnering with Uber to offer flexible electric vehicle leases to rideshare drivers.

Uber is under pressure from governments around the world to get more of its drivers to use electric cars to reduce tailpipe pollution and combat climate change. And Ford is eager to get more of its Mustang Mach-Es on the road as it pours billions of dollars into EV production while suffering huge losses.

Under the new Ford Drive program, Uber drivers will be able to rent the Mustang Mach-E for flexible terms, one or four months, depending on location. There are other benefits as well. According to Ford:

The vehicle is delivered to the driver within two weeks and he uses the Ford Drive app to manage payments and service. In each city, the Ford Drive team works with local dealers to purchase a fleet of Mach-E vehicles. Service and maintenance of these cars are also done through dealers.

But the leasing program won’t be widespread just yet. To begin with, the companies are piloting the program in three cities: San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Ford Drive has actually already started in San Diego, with Ford leasing 150 EVs to Uber drivers in 2022. California is the largest EV market in the US and the largest market for EVs powered by Uber’s platform.

Since last year, Uber has been running its own electric car service in dozens of cities. Only premium electric cars, such as the Tesla, Polestar and of course the Ford Mustang Mach-E, will be considered eligible for Comfort Electric trips. It will sit alongside the company’s other EV product, Uber Green, which gives drivers an additional fee (typically $1) for using electric vehicles.

This is the second major partnership announced by Ford in recent days. Last week, the automaker said it would adopt Tesla’s EV charging standard in the interest of opening up Elon Musk’s reliable and widespread charging network to Ford EV owners.