A parking lot with charging stations for electric cars.
getty
Uber is modifying its efforts to get cleaner vehicles on the road with a new $4,000 rebate program for drivers who buy an electric vehicle for use in the company’s “Uber Electric” service, a ride option formerly dubbed Uber Green in its app.
The San Francisco-based company said the move comes after federal tax credits of $7,500 for new EVs and $4,000 for used ones were phased out by the Trump administration, concluding on Sept. 30. For now, the Uber grants can be used only in New York, California, Colorado and Massachusetts, for both new and used EVs, the company said. An additional $1,000 discount is also available for all U.S. Uber drivers who buy a new or used EV from car-shopping site TrueCar.com.
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The company isn’t disclosing exactly how much it’s setting aside for the program, but said it expects the fund will “help thousands of drivers make the switch.”
The timing of the program could help spur EV demand in the year’s final quarter, when it’s expected to weaken after peaking in the third quarter as buyers rushed to get the federal rebate. Still, the new program seems less bullish than the $800 million push Uber announced in 2020, which was intended to help the ridehail platform operate with a zero-emission fleet by 2040. At the time, it also added the Uber Green option in the app to let customers book rides in an EV or hybrid.
Uber Electric rides are now booked only for EVs. To promote the service Uber is temporarily offering customers who opt to use it a 20% discount worth up to $8 per ride. The company said it currently has over 200,000 EVs on its platform globally and estimates that its drivers are adopting them at five times the rate of the general driving public in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Uber said its EV grant and TrueCar discount, worth $5,000 combined, can also be used with state-level incentive programs offered in California, Colorado and Massachusetts to cut thousands of additional dollars off the purchase price.