Hertz has announced that it will be purchasing up to 65,000 electric vehicles (EVs) from Swedish carmaker Polestar over the next five years as it steps up its move into electrification. The American car rental company said Polestar vehicles will start being available in its fleet from spring in Europe, and later this year in North America and Australia.
Hertz said that it would initially order the Polestar 2 sedan. It said the partnership with Polestar builds on its announcement made last October to offer its customers the largest EV rental fleet in US and one of the largest in the world.
Back in October, Hertz said it was ordering 100,000 EVs from Tesla, primarily made up of the carmaker’s Model 3. Last month, it added the Model Y SUV to its EV fleet. The company said that in addition to making the EV fleet available to its business and leisure customers, it will extend its offerings to ride-share drivers as a way to further accelerate electrification.
“The partnership with a global pioneer like Hertz will bring the amazing experience of driving an electric car to a wider audience, satisfying a broad variety of our mutual customers’ short- and longer-term mobility requirements,” Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said via a statement.
For Hertz, it looks like it’s well on the road to recovery. The firm filed for Chapter 11 in May 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but emerged from bankruptcy in June last year, stating it had done so as a much stronger company. The move to bolster its fleet with EVs comes on the back of shifting consumer preference towards EVs, with 40% of US consumers having said they were more likely to consider them.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
