- Toyota bZ4x and Lexus RZ drivers get three years of complimentary charging at Revel's charging hubs across New York City.
- There are more than 10,000 rideshare EVs in NYC, but the city's charging infrastructure remains subpar.
- Revel has NYC's largest public fast-charging network.
New York City has more electric vehicles than ever before. The city's iconic yellow cabs are now increasingly battery-powered due to new rules from the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) requiring for-hire vehicles to go electric to help bring the city's transportation emissions down.
The rideshare drivers mostly drive Tesla Model Ys and Model 3s, but there's also a growing number of Toyota bZ4xs and Lexus RZ crossovers. The bZ4x especially is an unexpected hit in NYC, where Toyota RAV4s and Camrys have been ubiquitous for decades. But the charging infrastructure in NYC leaves a lot to be desired.
Long permitting processes, exorbitant property costs and a congested city mean charger deployment isn't exactly easy. But things are slowly improving. To make the lives of EV drivers easier, Toyota and Brooklyn-based ride-hail start-up Revel today announced complimentary charging for Toyota and Lexus EV owners for three years, starting now through October 14, 2027.
Gallery: 2024 Toyota bZ4X
This is great for private and individual drivers, but it could especially be critical for rideshare drivers who have increasingly gone electric since last year. All they have to do is set up a Revel account and complete a VIN verification process. When that's done they can pull up to a Revel charger and get 100% off per charge session up to twice a day and one vehicle at a time.
This could be a big relief for two key reasons: it can reduce both charging expenses and waiting times at existing fast chargers.
Currently, there's only one Tesla Supercharger station in NYC without parking fees that can also charge non-Tesla EVs (thanks to the Magic Dock NACS-to-CCS adapter). It's located in South Brooklyn. There are more Tesla chargers, of course, but most of them have pay-to-park fees or are slower Destination chargers.
About half a dozen rideshare drivers told InsideEVs early this year that waiting times at this station can sometimes stretch over an hour, just to find a charging spot. They lose both time and business—about $45-50 an hour according to one Uber driver.
Revel not only runs a rideshare service with its neon-blue Teslas and Kia Niro EVs but also operates the largest public fast-charging network in New York City with 64 fast-charging stalls across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
Gallery: 2024 Lexus RZ
Those stations run round the clock and offer both NACS (Tesla) and CCS plugs. Complimentary charging for Toyota and Lexus EV owners could impact where drivers charge and how that traffic gets distributed. Now Toyota and Lexus EV drivers might turn to Revel stations to save on charging costs and for new EV buyers, complimentary charging can be appealing.
“As we expand our charging network in New York and California, we are excited to create more opportunities for Toyota and Lexus drivers to charge fast and, starting now, charge-free,” said Frank Reig, Revel’s co-founder & CEO.
As of September, there were more than 10,000 rideshare electric cars in New York City, according to public records. They have completed some 14 million zero-emissions trips this year alone, according to the TLC. Now there's some respite in sight for these drivers, with dozens of planned public fast chargers expected to come online in 2025 and 2026.
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