Rental car giant Hertz will purchase up to 65,000 electric vehicles (EVs) from carmaker Polestar over the next five years to expand its global electric fleet.
The EVs are expected to be available beginning in the Spring of 2022 in Europe and late in 2022 in North America and Australia.
The goal is to increase Hertz’s commitment to electrification. In October 2021, Hertz said it planned to add 50,000 Teslas to its fleet by 2023. At the time, it was considered to be one of the largest expansions of EVs from a mobility provider in North America.
Hertz said if the program was successful, it may add as many as 150,000 Teslas in the next three years.
The electric rental cars will be available to business and leisure customers and Hertz plans to extend the EVs to rideshare drivers to further accelerate the transition to EVs.
The automotive market is in the largest transition in its history — moving away from gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles to electrification. Every automotive OEM as well as ride-hailing companies and trucking vendors are making the electrification transition as part of government mandates for better emissions from vehicles and the urge to curb global warming.
Another factor is the high success of Tesla Motors, which has led to numerous new electric startups emerging to get a piece of the transition.
Hertz will initially order the electric Polestar 2, the first volume electrified model from the car maker, which includes the infotainment system powered by Android Automotive OS with Google built in. Polestar reported that it nearly tripled volumes in 2021 and expects to double volumes this year. By 2025, Polestar forecasts shipping about 290,000 vehicles per year.
