Is Uber Paying You The $1 Per Trip EV Promo As Advertised?

Sergio finds out if Uber is paying its drivers the $1 per trip EV promo and talks about Algorithmic Wage Discrimination to drivers.

By: Sergio Avedian

IG ANNOUNCEMENT

David Risher, Lyft's CEO is coming on Show Me The Money Club! Join in the LIVE conversation and share your thoughts or ask your questions on Tuesday, September 26th at 6 PM EST / 3 PM PST.

--------------------------

EVs (Electric Vehicles) are all the rage these days. In most cases, EVs are being purchased for personal use, but Uber has been pushing the usage of EVs for Rideshare for a while now.

Both TNCs (Transport Network Company) have promised that their fleets will be converted to fully electric by 2030.

That will be very tough since Uber/Lyft has a ZERO asset business model, meaning they don’t own the cars; it is all on the drivers to supply the tools of the trade.

I have been a driver on both platforms since 2016, and 2023 has been the worst year for me regarding earnings, specifically after Upfront Fares was unleashed in late 2022.

I have written multiple articles about Upfront Fares, pointing to my fifth rate cut in 7 years. Are you earning more or less Upfront Fares in your city? I would like to hear from you in the comments below.

Uber has been pushing EVs in the driver app almost weekly to achieve their fleets' carbon neutrality and zero emission goals.

We all have seen the following screenshots.

Investing in an expensive EV to do Rideshare is a consideration for many drivers. The $1 per trip extra promotion (Up to $ 4,000 a year) Uber has been offering may convince many folks to do so.

But are you getting that full dollar, or is it being SHAVED?

Testing, Testing, and more Testing.

Algorithmic wage discrimination is real; we have proven that multiple times in the past year. How do we test for it?

We get four drivers together, all from different races, with different cars, different AR (Acceptance Rate) and CR (Cancellation Rate). We put their phones beside each other on a table to eliminate GPS location arguments by Uber/Lyft.

We turn the driver app on in a fairly busy area of town and screen record for at least 30-45 minutes. Then, we take all the footage, sync them up, and highlight identical trips all four drivers received.

The results have been shocking to us.

All four drivers received different fares for the same trip with the same pick-up and drop-off location, Rider, circumstances, and time of the day.

How would all four drivers receive different fares for the same job?

That is what we call algorithmic wage discrimination.

Upfront Fares Algorithm EV Promo Shaving

During one of these tests recently run in Chicago with four drivers, we inadvertently discovered how the Upfront Fares algorithm was shaving at least 20 cents, if not more, from the $1 EV credit each driver was supposed to receive over an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) driver.

We have discussed how opaque the Upfront Fares algorithm has been since its inception. It lowers the Base Fare to eliminate the Surge, Boost, and other promotion effects on each trip.

But we stumbled upon a shady, unethical if not illegal, tactic being deployed. The sad thing is that the only way for an EV driver to figure this out would be to run the tests we do. Sitting next to an ICE vehicle owner and comparing the offers received.

I call this boiling the frog slowly!

The setup for the screenshots below is the same as all our other tests.

Four driver phones are put on a table next to each other; in this case, 3 ICE vehicle drivers and a Tesla driver participated.

The three phones on the left are from gasoline engine drivers, and the one on the far right is the Tesla driver.

The problem with all this is that the promised $1 EV credit shows up as it should on your weekly earnings statements and individual trip receipts. However, the algorithm lowers the Base Fare for the EV driver on the identical trips received by the gas vehicle drivers.

For example, as an EV driver, if you made 50 trips in a week, you will see the $50 EV credit on your statement, but your Base Net Fare has been lowered on each offer, so the question is, are you really getting up to $4000 a year or are you only receiving $3200 or less?

The screenshots are self-explanatory: Do you drive an EV? Are you being Shaved?

The screenshots above show that the EV driver never fully received the extra $1 promotion. It mainly was 20 cents less per offer.

Quick math: on these eight trips, the EV driver would have received $1.60 less than his/her counterparts in gasoline vehicles for Base Fares.

Now multiply that by hundreds of thousands of EV drivers on the Uber platform, and you get the picture.

Twenty cents SHAVED on each trip would reduce the $4000 yearly credit to $3200!

Is this illegal under the FTC’s Fair Advertising Law? I am not certain, but it is unethical, shady and unnecessary.

We are always looking out for the driver community on SMTMC, constantly exposing the TNCs, and will continue to do so.

Join us on the Rideshare Guy YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 PM PST (6 PM EST).

My Conclusions

Driving Rideshare is less financially lucrative than it used to be when I started.

As a driver, we must figure out our CPM (Cost Per Mile) and pay close attention to our profitability metrics.

This is not public service or charity; treat your Rideshare driving as a small business. Don’t just pay attention to how much gas you put in the tank on a daily/weekly basis; there are many other costs involved.

Simply buying an expensive EV to drive just for Uber/Lyft does not make sense, but never going to a gas station, no oil changes and almost other routine maintenance is a plus.

There are a lot of rental EVs offered through the app; we have talked about the pros and cons of renting for Rideshare on our channel multiple times.

If one rents a Tesla from Uber for about $500 a week, including charging costs, one must drive a minimum of 50-60 hours a week for it to make financial sense.

I wish Uber would clean their act up and pay the full $1 EV credit as promised in the driver app.

Why is this gamification and gamblification necessary?

Do they think that our community will not figure it all out?

Who is the loser at the end? Everyone!

Multiple Gig Platforms Are Onboarding Para Drivers With YOUR Credentials Skip tedious onboarding, background checks & waitlists. One-click apply for multiple long-term delivery jobs that pay up to $35/hr & start earning tomorrow! Create Your Para Profile Today!