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from the but-but-but-the-fancy-brochure-said dept.
CNN Reports: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/11/business/hertz-tesla-selling/index.html
Hertz, which has made a big push into electric vehicles in recent years, has decided it's time to cut back. The company will sell off a third of its electric fleet, totaling roughly 20,000 vehicles, and use the money they bring to purchase more gasoline powered vehicles.
Electric vehicles have been hurting Hertz's financials, executives have said, because, despite costing less to maintain, they have higher damage-repair costs and, also, higher depreciation.
"[C]ollision and damage repairs on an EV can often run about twice that associated with a comparable combustion engine vehicle," Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr said in a recent analyst call.
And EV price declines in the new car market have pushed down the resale value of Hertz's used EV rental cars.
[...] For rental car companies like Hertz, which sell lots of vehicles in the used car market, depreciation has a big impact on their business, and is a major factor when deciding which cars to have in their fleets.
SoylentNews previously reported when Hertz was expanding their EV fleet.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday January 31 2024, @12:42PM (5 children)
Google implies their USA total fleet is a bit over 425K vehicles, which seems insane, more than 1% of the US population. Do that many people rent cars?
Anyway from a business process standpoint is it "worth it" for the greenwashing advertisements, to have about 15% of your cars be weird process exceptions?
There are business process issues where an EV-only company could have chargers at every parking spot, maybe locate their lots where there is good electrical infrastructure, etc.
Another thing to consider: When I've needed to rent a car I've REALLY needed to rent a car, like right now. I've never shopped around for a "status symbol" rental, I'm just tired after a long day of travel or dropped off my car to be fixed or "something" and I just need a rental. I don't think they can get away with charging more money for EVs in practice. Social media street cred from terminally online people who don't rent cars anyway doesn't pay the bills if EVs cost more but generate the same revenue...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ElizabethGreene on Wednesday January 31 2024, @01:21PM (1 child)
425k is the right neighborhood; you could check their annual report if you want the skinny on it. A couple of things that skew that. First, that's just the US number. They have iirc half that number internationally too. Also, the illusion of choice, they have three separate and competing brands, Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty so that's across all three brands.
You're off by one on the decimal point, there's about 1 car per ~800 people or 1 car per 350 households and they make up about a fourth of the US rental market. 3/4ths of their rentals are non-business customers, e.g. recreational and insurance company temporary replacement vehicles.
For better or worse, we're a car country.
("Car" above is inclusive of Cars, SUVs, and light trucks.)
(Disclosure: I'm a Happy Hertz Gold Beryllium diamond elephant whatever member. I rented cars more or less continuously from them for about 4 years* pre-pandemic for business travel.)
(* - Yes, I realize how ludicrous that is and I could have paid for a new car with just the mileage reimbursements from driving them from Nashville to Atlanta. I *should* have bought a Nissan Versa instead of renting one, but never expected the gig to run like that.)
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday January 31 2024, @08:57PM
Ah I see like legacy media, processed foods, fast food, and frankly everything else, a very small number of companies own almost all the brands. I was under the illusion car rental was a relatively competitive market, but its more of the usual...
I am kind of surprised the markets for "travel" and "moving" haven't merged as they are in the same line of work, more or less. uhaul should be able to rent me a civic and enterprise should be able to rent me a giant moving truck but AFAIK they don't interoperate.
I have always owned "fast" little commuter cars and two seaters and similar and about once a year I rent the Home Depot truck to haul home a couple thousand pounds of nonsense and at least once a decade I rent a giant moving truck to move a minicomputer or metal lathe or some similar item. I don't even do it often enough to justify owning and registering a mere trailer much less owning a giant truck.
I prefer to think of it as metric percent...
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Wednesday January 31 2024, @05:11PM (1 child)
You might want to check your math.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday January 31 2024, @08:44PM
Posting before breakfast tea, always a mistake.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday February 02 2024, @08:30PM
I don't think they can get away with charging more money for EVs in practice.
I own an EV, they are to piston cars what the Model-T was to a horse, but I wouldn't pay extra to rent one. Another example of how stupid most people born rich, like CEOs and boards of directors are.
It is a disgrace that the richest nation in the world has hunger and homelessness.