Car rental corporation Hertz has decided to sell at least a portion of its electric vehicle fleet and buy regular petrol cars instead, Reuters reports. This contradicts the company’s earlier intentions to electrify 25% of its car pool by the end of 2024.
Somewhat surprisingly, Hertz revealed that high maintenance costs were a part of the issue. Regular maintenance may be cheaper, but repairs – especially after incidents – are much more expensive. The company had tried remedying the situation by capping the powertrain output and even restricting EV rental opportunities to customers with clean records. Apparently, these measures weren’t enough.
Hertz admits that its failed attempt at electrification cost it $245 million in wear-and-tear losses.
The company’s earlier plans involved buying 100,000 EVs from Tesla, among others. However, it had actually only managed to acquire 48,000 before reverting that decision. Hertz had also planned to obtain 65,000 Polestar battery cars for its pool.
In late 2023, German rental company Sixt came out with a similar announcement, saying it decided to cut down on its Tesla fleet.