Ford offers flexible EV leases to Uber drivers

Ford is teaming up with Uber to offer rideshare drivers flexible leasing on electric vehicles.

Uber is under pressure from governments around the world to switch its drivers to EVs to reduce tailpipe pollution and fight climate change. And Ford is eager to get its Mustang Mach-S on the road as it pours billions of dollars into EV production while heavy losses,

Under the new Ford Drive program, Uber drivers will be able to lease a Mustang Mach-E for flexible terms of either one or four months, depending on location. And it has other advantages too. According to Ford:

The vehicle is delivered to the driver within two weeks, and they use the Ford Drive app to manage payment and service. In each city, the Ford Drive team works with local dealers to purchase fleets of Mac-Es. The service and maintenance of those vehicles are also done through the dealers.

But there won’t be a widespread rollout of the lease program just yet. To start, the companies are piloting the program in three cities: San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Ford Drive has actually already launched 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 RideWheel platform.

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

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