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: 5, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday January 31 2024, @01:37PM (5 children)
It's not just bad management of the charging problem. There is a fundamental financial motive at work that can't be fixed by providing an adapter cable:
>despite costing less to maintain, they have higher damage-repair costs and, also, higher depreciation.
Batteries. The reason I haven't bought an electric vehicle bigger than a bicycle yet is: batteries.
Two near bottom of the line e-bikes cost us 80% as much as the used car we bought 5 years ago, and what costs 80% of their purchase price to replace? Batteries.
If you drive 50,000 miles a year in a big gas hog (because: driving that many miles, you're gonna want to be comfortable), and you have a charging infrastructure that supports your use case(s), then I definitely see the appeal of EVs. Right up until it's time to replace the: Batteries. They do eventually cycle down to un-useful capacity levels, no matter how "well you treat them." They do need replacing when damaged in a collision. They occasionally fail early for no particular reason we can find - this mostly tends to happen out of warranty. If you escape unscathed, covered by insurance and warranty for any of the all too common "unforseens," and get slightly better than advertised average life from your pack, at the end of it all, as a heavy user, you will come out ahead financially... but not nearly as much as you're lying to yourself on a daily basis you will.
I predict a fair amount of consumer sour grapes backlash when they start having to pay for their own: Batteries.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday February 02 2024, @08:33PM (4 children)
The ten year warranty fixes that problem for me, I've been driving since 1968 and never owned a car that long.
A man legally forbidden from possessing a firearm is in charge of America's nuclear arsenal. Have a nice day.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Friday February 02 2024, @08:52PM (3 children)
If you don't mind "the spend" associated with always driving cars less than 10 years old, that works for you.
I have been driving since 1985 and only purchased two new vehicles in that time. Still have the 1991, and traded the 1999 for a 2019 last year. I believe my wife and I only ever sold one car before it was ten years old, that one being a CVT Dodge Caliber that we wanted out of before the CVT got (more) annoying.
Whenever I have done a "fix it or replace it" analysis, by cost it has always been cheaper to fix it, including mechanics' labor - which is often just an optional convenience fee.
With battery packs, EVs are now sporting a single critical component that will cost more to "fix" than it costs to replace the vehicle.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Thursday February 08 2024, @06:24PM (2 children)
This is the first new car I've bought since 1984.
A man legally forbidden from possessing a firearm is in charge of America's nuclear arsenal. Have a nice day.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday February 08 2024, @11:16PM (1 child)
You may be in the "driver will expire before the battery pack is likely to" category, which makes the EV much more attractive. If you were looking forward to 20+ more years of driving the analysis would look different.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday February 10 2024, @09:12PM
I never looked forward to driving any car that long! Engine parts aren't all that wears out, after a decade no seat is anywhere near as comfortable as it was new. I usually buy them at about five years old and get rid of them in ten or so. When my back hurts after a hundred fifty miles it's time to trade the old junker in.
A man legally forbidden from possessing a firearm is in charge of America's nuclear arsenal. Have a nice day.