Ford announces flexible lease program for Uber drivers

Uber is going electric, and the rideshare company is partnering with Ford to help its drivers make the transition. Through a pilot program available in select California cities, Ford will offer flexible EV leases to Uber drivers looking to go green.

The Ford Drive program offers the Ford Mustang Mach-E to Uber drivers in San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Leases come with one- or four-month terms, depending on where the driver is located, and service is handled through a local Ford dealer. Once ordered, the Mach-E is delivered within two weeks, and drivers use the Ford Drive app to manage their lease payments and service schedules.

This is the first partnership between an automaker and a rideshare service. Both Uber and its main competitor, Lyft, have announced plans to have all drivers in electric vehicles by 2030, and Uber has promised to invest $800 million to incentivize its drivers to make the switch. The company offers an extra $1 per ride for drivers willing to go electric, and Mach-E lessees get access to Uber’s premium zero exhaust ride offerings.

The partnership is another notch in Ford’s EV belt, as the automaker recently announced a deal with Tesla to give owners access to its Supercharger network. Ford hasn’t outlined plans to expand the service beyond California, but its announcement will likely spark similar deals between other automakers and rideshare companies. The Mustang Mach-E is still a hot seller, with wait lists in some cases, but it’s not as hard to come by as the F-150 Lightning, which has buyers lined up for more than a year. That said, The Blue Oval has plans to drastically increase its electric vehicle manufacturing output, with a goal of 600,000 units by the end of 2023 and two million units worldwide by the end of 2026.