Uber Freight kicks off Deliver 2025 with Tesla EV truck program

JACKSONVILLE — In a move to decarbonize freight transportation, Uber Freight has launched its Dedicated EV Fleet Accelerator Program, aimed at driving electric truck adoption through a strategic partnership with automaker Tesla.

Uber Freight founder and chairman Lior Ron announced the Tesla partnership on Tuesday during Deliver 2025, the company’s annual summit held this year in Jacksonville, Florida.

“This is the first program of its kind, truly designed to help fleets and shippers adopt electric trucks at scale and with confidence,” Ron said.

The Dedicated EV Fleet Accelerator Program is a direct response to widespread industry feedback, Uber Freight officials said. The program will give fleets subsidized access to Tesla Semi trucks, guaranteed demand from Uber Freight’s shipper network, and direct support to maximize vehicle utilization and long-term return on investment.

While electric trucks offer significant operational savings over time, high upfront costs, charging infrastructure gaps, and uncertainty around revenue potential have often discouraged broader adoption, Ron said.

“We’re going to work together with Tesla to really educate fleets and really help them accelerate the adoption of electric trucks … by helping with financing and making the price of these beautiful trucks actually equal to the price of diesel trucks. We’re going to work with those fleets to fully optimize their network and fully optimize their charging location and freight routes to ensure that charging is seamless in their operation as well,” Ron said.

Tesla unveiled the all-electric Class 8 Semi truck in 2017 and began manufacturing units in 2022. Mass production is expected to start at the end of 2025, with the Semi expected to go on sale in 2026. The truck has an estimated range of 300 to 500 miles carrying a full load.

Under the program:

• Fleets purchasing Tesla Semi trucks will receive a price subsidy.

• Fleets will integrate their Tesla Semi trucks into Uber Freight’s dedicated solutions for shippers for a pre-determined period.

• Uber Freight taps into its extensive freight network to match carriers with consistent freight from its shipper base.

During a two-month pilot of the EV accelerator program, the Tesla Semi trucks clocked over 394 hours of drive time, with carriers covering 12,377 miles. The trucks averaged net energy consumption of 1.72 kWh per mile on 60 hours of total charge time.

Deliver 2025 is a three-day event that includes around 200 shippers and industry experts discussing topics such as last mile, fraud, tariffs, nearshoring, AI, cross-border logistics and intermodal.