Hertz rental car company abandoning electric vehicle plans, selling 20k EVs
Hertz originally announced in 2021 that they were planning to have 25% of their ~500k total rental cars be electric by the end of the 2024.
However, it seems they're now changing their tune. Their current inventory is ~11% electric, and even that is proving to be too much, with EV demand being low and repair expenses on EVs being too high.
They're now cutting their number of EVs by 20,000, which is over 1/3rd of their ~55k EV inventory, and abandoning their 25% plan. These EVs will be replaced with gas-powered vehicles.
Car rental firm Hertz to sell 20,000 EVs for gas-powered vehicles
Rental firm Hertz Global Holdings (HTZ.O) said on Thursday it would sell about 20,000 electric vehicles from its U.S. fleet due to higher expenses related to collision and damage, and will opt for gas-powered vehicles.
Shares of the company, which operates vehicles from Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and Swedish EV maker Polestar among others, fell about 3% at market open.
Hertz had said it would order 100,000 Teslas by the end of 2022 and followed that with a decision to buy up to 65,000 units over five years from Polestar.
"Expenses related to collision and damage, primarily associated with EVs, remained high in the quarter...," Hertz said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.
The company had previously set a target for 25% of its fleet to be electric by the end of 2024.
Hertz expects about $245 million of incremental depreciation expenses from the proposed sale in the fourth quarter of 2023 and warned of a hit to adjusted corporate core profit for the period.
The company said it would continue to focus on improving profitability for the remainder of its EV fleet.
Hertz's used car website lists more than 700 EVs on sale including BMW's i3, Chevrolet's Bolt and Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y SUVs.
Hertz selling 20,000 EVs from fleet, to reinvest in gas-powered vehicles
Rental car giant Hertz on Thursday said it will sell about 20,000 electric vehicles from its U.S. fleet.
The offloading of the vehicles will cut the company's global EV fleet by one-third, Hertz said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"The company expects this action to better balance supply against expected demand of EVs," the company said.
Hertz said it expects the sale of the EVs to "take place in an orderly fashion over the course of 2024." It started offloading them late last year.
The company said in October 2021 that it would acquire 100,00 Teslas in a move to help build its EV fleet.
January 11, 2024, 09:49 AM
chellim1
quote:
Hertz selling 20,000 EVs from fleet, to reinvest in gas-powered vehicles
"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." -- Justice Janice Rogers Brown
"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth." -rduckwor
January 11, 2024, 09:52 AM
erj_pilot
quote:
Car rental firm Hertz to sell 20,000 EVs for gas-powered vehicles
"If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24
January 11, 2024, 09:54 AM
6guns
Smart business decision!
SIGforum: For all your needs! Imagine our influence if every gun owner in America was an NRA member! Click the box>>>
January 11, 2024, 09:56 AM
Russ59
I was offered a Tesla at the Burbank airport. Initially I wanted it, but then realized that, as a non-Tesla ownwer, I wouldn't be able to quickly refuel it before returning to the airport. And I wouldn't want my first EV experience to be on a work trip.
Anyway, from Hertz point of view, not sure it makes sense for their business model (off site routine maintenance like oil changes, tire repair, cars being returned with a full tank of gas). Or EV being dropped off at another airport or local store that aren't equipped for EV support.
P229
January 11, 2024, 09:59 AM
erj_pilot
^^^^^^ Or just abandoned on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere because it died. F.O.R.D.
"If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24
January 11, 2024, 09:59 AM
Edmond
Couple months ago, knew a guy who ended up with a Bolt. They never told him how to charge it. He drives it around for a day and doesn't charge it. Tries to drive on I4 from Tampa to Orlando and didn't make it. Car shut off on him and he had to call a tow.
I can see an electric making sense for my wife in the future since her driving is all local and short trips. But for someone like me who road trips often, it's not for me.
_____________
January 11, 2024, 10:00 AM
sig sailor
quote:
Originally posted by chellim1:
quote:
Hertz selling 20,000 EVs from fleet, to reinvest in gas-powered vehicles
Gee, I wonder why?
"Do not approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction." John Deacon, Author
I asked myself if I was crazy, and we all said no.
January 11, 2024, 10:03 AM
RogueJSK
quote:
Originally posted by Edmond: Couple months ago, knew a guy who ended up with a Bolt. They never told him how to charge it. He drives it around for a day and doesn't charge it. Tries to drive on I4 from Tampa to Orlando and didn't make it. Car shut off on him and he had to call a tow.
Well, to be fair, idiots end up with gas cars too. And the employee isn't going to show you how to fill up the gas tank, or explain how the fuel gauge works so you know how to tell when you're running out of gas. So that kind of scenario is a possibility even with non-electric cars.This message has been edited. Last edited by: RogueJSK, January 11, 2024 11:25 AM
January 11, 2024, 10:03 AM
chellim1
quote:
"The company expects this action to better balance supply against expected demand of EVs," the company said. Hertz said it expects the sale of the EVs to "take place in an orderly fashion over the course of 2024."
Place them "in an orderly fashion" (closely together) in the dessert and invite Sigforum for a shoot!
"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." -- Justice Janice Rogers Brown
"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth." -rduckwor
January 11, 2024, 10:22 AM
6guns
quote:
Originally posted by chellim1:
quote:
"The company expects this action to better balance supply against expected demand of EVs," the company said. Hertz said it expects the sale of the EVs to "take place in an orderly fashion over the course of 2024."
Place them "in an orderly fashion" (closely together) in the dessert and invite Sigforum for a shoot!
Nothing like shooting cars after dinner!
SIGforum: For all your needs! Imagine our influence if every gun owner in America was an NRA member! Click the box>>>
January 11, 2024, 10:22 AM
Balzé Halzé
Yeah, because renting an EV is a pain in the ass. Especially if you're renting to someone who's never driven a Tesla, now you have to spend time and resources giving a tutorial.
I rented a Tesla from Hertz once over a year ago just to get some experience driving one and see what it was all about. It was fine for that time, but I wouldn't do it again. Just very inconvenient having to charge it.
A few months ago I disembarked a ship out of Corpus Christi, TX. I decided to rent a car and drive to San Antonio where the flight options for me were much better. It was a two hour drive. I made sure the car I rented wasn't an EV. Well, Hertz forced it on me when I arrived as it was the only type of car they had left. I wasn't happy. But the man assured me I would have enough charge to make it to San Antonio. Lies. Well, I might have made it, but with 100 miles to go, the gauge said I had a range of 110 miles left. That was too close to call, especially since I was trying to make a flight. Had to pull off at a rest stop that had fast chargers and charge for 20 mins. Made my flight but I had to rush.
EV rentals are just a bad idea.
~Alan Acta Non Verba NRA Life Member (Patron) God, Family, Guns, Country
Men will fight and die to protect women... because women protect everything else. ~Andrew Klavan
January 11, 2024, 10:34 AM
stoic-one
As an electrical guy, the irony of this being "hertz", well...
Yep. Renting an EV is a PITA, and understandably so because typically renters are away from home and are completely dependent upon public charging stations to "fuel" up. They can just plug it in in the garage overnight to get it charged.
I've had several recent conversations with friends and family about their experience with EV rental vehicles, and none of them were positive. Most were utter nightmares. I'm not sure why anybody at Hertz could have thought this was a good idea... it's possibly one of the most nonsensical applications of EV technology imaginable.
ETA: Oh, and those obnoxious Hertz commercials with Tom Brady and the really loud lady? Those alone are bad enough to make me never want to rent from Hertz.
January 11, 2024, 10:49 AM
TMats
I wonder if this signals something bigger. This administration and the Dems have been figuratively holding a gun to America’s head with respect to EVs, setting arbitrary deadlines and objectives. I think Hertz’s BoD is reading the tea leaves and think the Dems and their stupid mandates are going down, and that they don’t have to meet their objectives.
I don’t view this as an apolitical thread. If I’m wrong, I’m sure to hear about it.
_______________________________________________________ despite them
January 11, 2024, 10:54 AM
frayedends
Tom Brady will have to retire. Again.
These go to eleven.
January 11, 2024, 11:02 AM
stickman428
They were advertising that pretty damn hard. I can’t say I will miss those commercials.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The price of liberty and even of common humanity is eternal vigilance
January 11, 2024, 11:33 AM
83v45magna
They don't need to read tea leaves to know what the next administration will do with regard to EV's. Just the prevailing winds shifting, nothing to see here. I expect to see more examples of this in the next year.
I love it! God help me I do love it so.
January 11, 2024, 11:37 AM
egregore
quote:
I don’t view this as an apolitical thread.
Politics is the reason these abortions are being forced on us. Or trying to, anyway.
January 11, 2024, 11:38 AM
Russ59
I think there's a case for EV in many cases, but certainly not the best for everyone. Teslas are selling like hot cakes in my neighborhood and I would consider one for my wife's driving behavior.
But EV for short term rentals with many inexperienced EV drivers, seems like a recipe for disaster. Perhaps ESG mandate from the BoD or investors?
