Uber has expanded its Comfort Electric service to 24 US cities and Vancouver, Canada. The company had launched Comfort Electric to build on agreements with rental companies like Hertz. The latter helps Uber drivers get their hands on Tesla and other high-end electric vehicles.
Uber Comfort Electric was made available four months ago in select California cities. Today, Uber’s partnership with Hertz has helped the company expand service, with more than 25,000 drivers renting a Tesla.
To pick up, Hertz in October 2021 said it would supply 50,000 of the 100,000 electric cars ordered from Tesla to Uber drivers in the United States. Drivers could first rent Tesla cars from Hertz in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Washington DC last fall.
Uber and Hertz have worked together since 2016 to provide discount car rental options.
Besides Tesla cars, Uber is also listing other premium electric vehicles like the Polestar and Ford’s Mustang Mach-E in today’s announcement. At least the Polestar cars are also confirmed by Hertz.
As with previous communications, the companies did not disclose actual driver rates. Uber, however, suggests drivers who qualify for Comfort Electric can earn more per hour due to higher fares, gas savings and an additional $1 per trip incentive for every trip they take.
Starting today, Uber Comfort Electric has been activated in the app in Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore-Maryland, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Connecticut, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, New Jersey, NYC Suburbs, Philadelphia, Portland, Sacramento, San Antonio, Seattle, St Louis, Vancouver (Canada), in addition to Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington DC.
It’s a bit like Uber Green in Europe, where passengers choose electric cars to pick them up. The service is mainly available in London (and some US markets), and Uber has tried to make it easier for drivers to finance electric cars. More recently, the company partnered with fintech company Moove to provide drivers with electric vehicles through its rent-to-own model. Moove aims to be the biggest EV partner on Uber’s London platform, with plans to grow to 10,000 cars by the end of 2025. However, that has yet to materialize.
Uber Comfort Electric also ranks above Uber Green as it requires a price premium and is premium EV only. Uber Green, however, sometimes includes PHEVs and hybrid cars.
Uber drivers can view their options for going electric in the “EV Hub” available in the driver app.