Uber Tesla
 

I had my first Uber Tesla ride recently, in NYC. According to the driver, we will see a lot more as NYC is only giving out new plates to electric cars. He said by 2025 Uber will be pretty much all electric in NYC.

I've seen a few Model 3 NYC yellow cabs in Manhattan; always makes me double-take.

Yes it was a model 3 I was in. And the driver said the new rules apply to taxis too. Anyone who applies for a new "T" plate. I guess Lyft too.

New York is only giving out new plates to electric cars? So if I move there with my Hybrid car from another state I wouldn't be able to get a plate?????

The cruising range on a lot of electric cars isn't that far and in NYC I wouldn't want an electric car, parking is at a premium, where can you find a parking spot with a charging station to charge it?

No. TLC plates. That means yellow cabs and ride hail.

In NYC do lyft/uber drivers have to have livery license plates? Here and in most states I know of the drivers are private contractors using their own cars and only have to have regular plates and a regular operator license.

If Lyfts will have to be electric they will never find new drivers in NYC. Parking is at a premium as it is and I don't remember seeing any places with charging stations. Not to mention the cruising range on some electric cars isn't that long of a distance.

Since NYC is requiring the cars be electric I hope they aren't like Ohio and some other states that are imposing an additional fee on the car because they aren't paying their fair share of gas taxes. It pisses me off that I pay an additional $100 a year when I renew my plates because my car is a hybrid (and it would be $200 if it was electric a year).

Yes Uber and Lyft have the T plates. And yes they are private contractors using their own cars, or sometimes they work for a transport company and do not own their own cars. I asked the driver and he said he is independent and purchased his own Tesla.

And yes there are places to charge your electric car here. These charging places are growing to meet the demand. They have thought this out.

BTW NYC is moving to electric buses too. Other cities already have electric buses. I saw one in Washington DC a few days ago. New York got 25 billion for this already and will ask for another $50 billion to convert all buses to electric/hydrogen. See https://www.nydailynews.com/news/pol...ojq-story.html

I've been seeing a lot of Hybrid busses on the roads in a couple cities lately. Smart move seeing what gas hogs those are.

I wouldn't want to be a lyft or Uber driver in NYC if they have to have livery plates. It wouldn't pay to do it if someone was doing it for very part time extra cash

Realize also that Uber prices in NYC are the highest in the nation AFAIK. They are significantly higher than places like Philly and Washington DC. They are even higher than London, England in my experience. That allows the drivers to make a living. And most of the Ubers I take in NYC are with drivers who have been with Uber for more than 3 years. If they weren't making money, they wouldn't be doing it for that long.

In the SF Bay Area and other well-developed ride share markets, relatively few Uber and Lyft drivers use their own cars--most rent cars by the hour or week from agencies with fleets dedicated to ride share. It works really well, especially with hourly rentals, because maintenance becomes a predictable cost and the fleet utilization is very high (the same car can be used essentially 24/7). I suspect that the rental vendors will adapt to the electric mandates and, for example, allow drivers to swap a discharged vehicle for a fully charged one so there's less downtime for the driver. DC Fast Charging also allows many vehicles to charge to 80% in about 20 minutes, which really isn't that bad either.

Wonder if they can rent a car in NYC if they have to have a livery plate. Would make sense in some markets like Chicago where you don't need a car to rent one to do Lyft or Uber if the rental car allows it. I delivered piza's in college and my car got in a bad (not while delivering pizzas) and all the rental car places I looked at while my car was in the shop said I couldn't use the car for pizza delivery, they must have changed their policy on this.

There are some platforms that rent cars with TLC plates and taxi insurance, to people who are registered with the TLC and have a taxi license. What you see in the rest of the country, "very part time" as you call it, average people using their own personal cars, is not how the NYC system works. The amount of time and money to qualify to drive for hire in the city means it requires full-time pay.

I saw my first Model 3 with TLC livery plates today while walking home. I saw a TLC-plated BMW M5 on the same block yesterday with three people in the back.