Free Model Y and Model 3 credits await Uber drivers willing to switch to a Tesla

Tesla is partnering with Uber to dole out free credits to those drivers who are willing to switch to a Model Y or Model 3.

The eligible Uber drivers will get $1,000 in Tesla Credits upon a new Model 3 or Model Y delivery. After they do 100 Uber trips in their new Tesla, they will get an extra $1,000 in cold hard cash, too.

The Uber drivers who switched to a Model Y or a Model 3 can use the grand in Tesla Credits towards charging expenses, service done in a Tesla shop, a purchase of a new Tesla and various accessories.

Needless to say, they need to be in good standing with Uber as drivers, but the free Model Y credits will benefit Tesla as well. Many Uber drivers are now increasingly using Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) feature to take some of the load off and be able to work more hours.

Those miles logged with FSD on will increase exponentially as more and more Uber drivers switch to a Model Y or a Model 3, and Tesla will be able to use them in its regulatory filing statistics.

It now has to work overtime to convince state authorities that FSD is safer than human drivers if it wants them to approve its upcoming Robotaxi for rides on city streets. Tesla wants to hit that milestone in the next few quarters, so that it can introduce unsupervised FSD.

It can then let Model Y and Model 3 owners provide services on its budding Cybercab ride-share platform as demo drives to test it and tide people over until it launches the Robotaxi.

Tesla, however, will need a lot more distance covered with FSD and a drastic increase in miles driven safely between interventions before it gets the green light for unsupervised FSD on city streets. What better way to hit its goals than to entice Uber drivers to buy a Model Y or Model 3 that it knows they'll be tempted to use with FSD on.

This necessity somewhat explains why there is now a dedicated Uber driver section on Tesla's website, with an offer of up to $2,000 in free credits towards a Model Y or Model 3 purchase.

Uber's CEO is on record doubting Tesla's ride-share profitability assumptions, especially with a driverless Robotaxi, but Tesla is now addressing the issue the other way around, incentivizing more Uber drivers to pick its cars and amass FSD miles.

Get the 80A Tesla Gen 2 Wall Connector with 24' cable on Amazon