Hertz plans to buy 65,000 EVs from Polestar over five years:
Hertz Global Holdings Inc. plans to buy 65,000 electric vehicles from Polestar over the next five years, betting its renters are both EV curious and eager to drive brands beyond Tesla.
The vehicles from Polestar, the all-electric automaker controlled by Volvo Car AB and its owner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., will join some 100,000 Teslas that Hertz has said it's buying for more than $4 billion. The new deal delivered a boost to shares of Hertz and Gores Gugenheim Inc., the special purpose acquisition company planning to merge with Polestar.
The Tesla and Polestar purchases give Hertz a steady stream of some of the most coveted battery-powered cars, even as manufacturers scurry to keep up with swelling order books. Polestar expects to double sales this year, delivering 65,000 vehicles globally. It plans to produce 290,000 EVs a year by 2025, a tally Tesla now reaches in less than three months.
"It is our objective to build the largest fleet of electric vehicles, certainly in North America," Hertz Chief Executive Officer Stephen Scherr said.
[...] Hertz has said that, in time, its global fleet of cars — roughly half a million vehicles — will be electric and it intends to work with every EV maker on the market to make that happen.
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The bad news continues as the rental giant tries to untangle itself from its failed electric vehicle strategy:
Ryan Brinkman, automotive equity research analyst with J.P. Morgan, downgraded Hertz Global Holdings from neutral to underweight Monday.
The assessment, Seeking Alpha reports, comes as the company tries to reverse course from its failed EV strategy, which has cost the company as much as $1 billion. The losses stem from the vehicle's high depreciation rates and high collision repair costs. The lack of spare parts for repairs is also undermining utilizations of the company's electric fleet.
As reported on Yahoo! News:
The challenges don't stop there. Hertz's heavy debt load is tying its hands, potentially forcing the company to navigate choppy waters without the lifeline of share buybacks. With used-vehicle prices on shaky ground and high refinancing costs, Hertz is bracing for more cash outflows. Throw in a recent adverse court ruling that resurrected litigation risks from its bankruptcy, and the financial landscape looks even more daunting. The path to stability isn't just steep; it's laden with obstacles.
Previously:
- Hertz is Selling 20,000 Electric Vehicles to Buy Gasoline Cars Instead
- Hertz to Purchase 175,000 General Motors EVs Over the Next Five Years
- Hertz Plans to Buy 65,000 EVs From Polestar Over Five Years
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @05:30PM (4 children)
Soylent News tracks your IP forever. It is hashed with the same hash since the site launched which makes it trivial to rebuild the real IP. AC comments might only have the IP hash for 2 weeks, users have them forever guaranteed.
Just information for those who might believe the privacy policy, no need to mod down unless you're mad about information sharing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @06:49PM (1 child)
Would they track the IP address of my brand new Polestar?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @06:51PM
No one want to track your pole!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @07:19PM
OCD. Get help, loser.
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Tuesday April 05 2022, @09:37PM
Quit whining already, it says so in the privacy policy:
(Score: 3, Interesting) by richtopia on Tuesday April 05 2022, @05:34PM (2 children)
We've seen a lack of cars in the last few years, and electric vehicles cannot keep up with demand. I assume Hertz is targeting the Polestar 2, which is around 60000 USD (https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/2021-polestar-2-ev-electric-price/). They probably negotiated a fleet rate slightly cheaper. While I find this expensive as a personal vehicle, for electric this is competitive especially if Hertz can add an electric premium to the rate.
News sources are discussing how the supply chain won't be able to support the massive increase of electric vehicles, with the constraint being either lithium, rare earths, manufacturing, or whatever you can dream up. Polestar is owned by Geely, which I would consider one of the few companies equipped to manage their electric supply chain in the coming years. Probably a good choice by Hertz.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Tuesday April 05 2022, @07:52PM
and no local company can compete, so more money flows to China.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @11:22PM
Lithium and rare earths are essentially unlimited, they just might cost more than companies want to pay. I think a much more likely impediment is going to be the electrical infrastructure. An average house uses about 20kwh per day. A Tesla car holds four times that, and averages about half as much use as the house*. But that assumes one car / house, and many families have more than one car.
Add in projected electrical trucks and I can easily see the need for electricity doubling. I don't see power station building or powerlines on a scale to account for that.
---
* Tesla's average around 20,000 km/year, about 50 km/day.
They use about 21 kwh per 100 km travel.
ie about 10 kwh / day.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Tuesday April 05 2022, @05:48PM
Hasn't Hertz had a problem with people getting arrested and spending time in jail because their rental car was reported stolen by Hertz? I think one guy spent seven months in jail. Just search "hertz false arrests" on YouTube.
Will the false stolen vehicle reporting policy also extend to electric vehicles?
Some people need assistants to hire some assistance.
Other people need assistance to hire some assistants.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @05:51PM (3 children)
Anyone know what the typical rental profile is? Is it mostly consumer or commercial? I'm thinking that if I'm on business travel somewhere, as much as I would love to try out an EV, I don't know I would want to stress over how to keep it charged unless my hotel had easily available hookups. I would have enough to worry about doing what I'm supposed to be doing, making sure to get to the airport, etc. I wonder, do you have to return the vehicle "full" or pay a fee like you do with gas? If I'm on an in-and-out trip, quick local meeting kind of thing, and I don't need to return it "full," I would be all over renting it for a business trip.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday April 05 2022, @07:29PM
Well it's a lot harder to return it full given charging times so it does seem like they would need to allow you to return it empty without all the gas upcharges so that might make it competitive.
(Score: 2) by richtopia on Tuesday April 05 2022, @09:28PM
I can't find any statistics, but from news articles business is the real money maker, with pleasure renters dominating weekend rentals.
I used to travel about 40% for work. While my company would pay for gas if I could have gone electric I probably would have to try new cars. Even without a charger, a week at the customer site has me driving under 100 miles: from airport to hotel (10-20 miles), hotel to factory (5 miles x 5 days), dinner (5 miles x 5 days), return to airport (10-20 miles). There definitely were trips where I went exploring and put serious miles on the car, but especially if the weather is blah and I'm on-site to do a job I'm putting in long days at the factory, so I don't want to do anything exciting in the evening.
On the flip side, if I need a car for a vacation I'm very price sensitive. Hotels are advertising electric charging to attract travelers. The Polestar 2 has an advertised range of 270 miles, so I could craft my vacation with that range in mind.
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Wednesday April 06 2022, @02:52PM
You'd be surprised how many chargers are sitting there in small towns and places you don't expect. Car dealerships are another place they're showing up. Check out the map. https://chargemap.com/map [chargemap.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 05 2022, @11:27PM
the world can prolly be split into two classes "people who build" and "people who (seek) rent".
since "not much" is going on "in the west" but trying to convince the bursting-at-the-seams rich "rent-seeks" to part at least a little bit with their wealth to invest in new (but not very risky) stuff, all the really new stuff is build in china.
me worries that the "rich-western-life-style" bug, which the west has had at least a 30 year head start in cultivating (even more if you go to europe), will infect the second or third new-rich generation in china ... and turn them into lame rent-seekers too.
i suppose that's how i feel about some chinese volvo-parent company merging with some western company (that makes ... what exactly? maybe they're top-notch at teaching the decadent wasteful luxury lifestyle to people who have no more vision for the future?)
we have to remember tho, that everything that exists (was made or built) kindda needs a owner, so there's that. any clubermint with burocrazy that includes population administration and enforcement will happily remind you of that...for a fee.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday April 06 2022, @04:22AM (3 children)
I bought a used Leaf 3 years ago, out of curiosity. For anything within half the vehicle's range, so that you can get there and back home without recharging, they're fantastic. They're quiet, low maintenance, and smooth. But if the destination is too far, and you must recharge somewhere away from home, they suck. If the destination is right at the limit of its range, you're looking at having to do without A/C, and driving slower. Driving slower is the top way of getting more range out of anything, whether electric or gasoline powered. I can handle keeping it down to 60 mph, but if I have to drive 30 mph, making the drive take at least twice as long, the heck with that, I'm taking the gas burner.
You really, really want to do all your charging at home. Public charging stations are not reliable. They can be occupied, not working, locked away behind a gate, turned off for the night, or simply none anywhere near your destination. They don't take credit cards like gas pumps do, you have to set up accounts and preload them, and you really need a smartphone with Internet access, just to use them. They can also be so expensive that you aren't saving any money over the cost of a full tank of gas. There isn't just one provider, there are many, and you need an account for each one you may use. Where I live, it's ChargePoint, Blink, and EVGo, and a few others. Mostly can't use Tesla charging stations on non Tesla EVs. There are also several kinds of connectors, and stations rarely have more than one kind. Unlike with gas stations, a charging station halfway along the route is pretty much useless, because recharging takes way too long. No one wants to sit on their asses for 2 or more hours, waiting for their car to recharge, when a gas burner can be refueled in 5 minutes. The charging station has to be very close or at your destination. If your visit isn't going to be very long, then even that isn't much help.
Let's say that you're visiting good friends or relatives who will let you plug into their outlet. That's the slowest way to recharge. You must check that they don't have anything else plugged in, as the EV is going to draw very close to the maximum that the circuit can handle. One time when I did that, I didn't check. They had a refrigerator on the same circuit. All was well for perhaps half an hour, then the fridge turned on, and the extra power draw was enough to trip the breaker. No one noticed for several hours. That was hours of charging time I lost to that, and I had to stay longer.
Hertz is really going to have to make sure that motels provide, as the renter hasn't got a home where they are guaranteed access to the means to recharge.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 06 2022, @06:14AM
Hertz is really going to have to make sure that there is a gas powered car available for me, if they want my business.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday April 06 2022, @01:44PM (1 child)
We bought a plug-in hybrid minivan (used 2017 Chrysler Pacifica) a couple of years ago that sounds like it might suit your use-case, too. The vast majority of our drives are local and the batteries handle those. On road trips the gas engine kicks in.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday April 06 2022, @10:04PM
How good is the quality? I've been wary of Chrysler for decades. Just not good quality is the impression I've formed. The PT Cruiser and Dodge Neon engines were prone to warping and head gasket leaks. 1960s Chryslers, even allowing for the across the board lower quality and longevity of all cars from that era, were a cut below GM and Ford, as well as being the worst gas guzzlers thanks to them going big, really big, on the engines. 1980s Chryslers were still below average for 1980s cars. Then came their hip but short lived cars of the 2000s. As for Fiat, well, I saw a neighbor's 1970s Fiats practically evaporate over 2 winters of driving on salted roads.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday April 06 2022, @01:45PM
The 65,000 vehicles are over 5 years, but can Polestar handle that volume? It took Tesla a while to be able to scale to that many.
Washington DC delenda est.