General Motors has signed a massive deal with Hertz for the sale of 175,000 electric vehicles over the next five years. The rental car giant, Hertz aims to have the largest electric vehicle fleet in North America and is also planning to electrify a quarter of its total rental fleet by the end of 2024. GM-Hertz Deal is the biggest EV order till now by Hertz rentals, it will buy electric vehicles from several different brands of General Motors such as Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Buick, and Brightdrop.
Hertz currently has 500 rental locations that are spread across 38 states in the US and after adding GM’s electric vehicles to its fleet, Hertz will be having a variety of electric vehicles like compact and midsize SUVs, pickup trucks, luxury vehicles, and delivery vans in its fleet. Both companies believe that this is the largest expansion of EVs among the fleet customers and the broadest too because it offers a wide range of vehicle categories and at different price points.
Hertz expects to take delivery of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV by early next year, followed by newer EV models on the company’s ultium battery platform. General Motors is gearing up to achieve an annual production capacity of 1 million EVs by 2025 in North America so it will be hoping to expedite the delivery of vehicles to Hertz between 2023 and 2025. General Motors’s ultium cells battery plants in Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan are soon gonna be operational which will further help in meeting the target.
In the joint press release, the CEO of both companies in their statement said:
Stephen Scherr, Hertz CEO, said:
It’s exciting that two iconic American companies that have shaped the evolution of transportation for more than a century are coming together to redefine the future of mobility in the 21st century. We are thrilled to partner with GM on this initiative, which will dramatically expand our EV offering to Hertz customers, including leisure and business travelers, rideshare drivers and corporates.
GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra said:
Our work with Hertz is a huge step forward for emissions reduction and EV adoption that will help create thousands of new EV customers for GM. With the vehicle choice, technology and driving range we’re delivering, I’m confident that each rental experience will further increase purchase consideration for our products and drive growth for our company.
Hertz estimates that its customers could travel approximately 8 billion miles through 2027, and opting for GM’s electric vehicles over a similar gasoline-powered vehicle can save nearly 1.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions for the same distance traveled.
In our opinion as well this can spur EV adoption because before making the full commitment of buying an EV if people get to experience it, they will come to know EVs are reliable, they will be able to get over range anxiety, and they will notice that charging is not that big a hassle.