[femto113]

Uber may not be making a profit directly on the leases, but it's clearly a way to get more drivers at a lower effective wage.

    In one week in May, Schmitt earned $604 for 28 hours of
    work, she said — a slightly better-than-average week.
    Uber took $160 for the car directly out of her paycheck,
    leaving her with $444.

That works out to about $15/hour after the lease payment, even less if it's not including fuel costs.

[icebraining]

But you can't ignore the value of the lease of the car; it's not like you can only use it to drive for Uber.