Hertz to Replace 20,000 EVs With Gas-Powered Cars
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Rental car company Hertz said it would sell about a third of its electric car fleet and replace them with gas-powered cars, citing weak demand, high repair costs, and a drop in the cars’ values.
The Details: Hertz said the decision was made “to better balance supply against expected demand of EVs.” Hertz executives have pointed to high EV repair costs, particularly for Teslas, which Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr said could cost twice as much to repair as gas-powered cars. EVs also depreciated more than gas-powered cars, with Scherr blaming Tesla’s “unprecedented” price cuts for undercutting Hertz’s resale values.
For Context: EV sales and production slowed in the second half of 2023, prompting questions about public demand and the Biden administration’s climate investments.
How the Media Covered It: While most headlines focused on replacing EVs with gas-powered cars, headlines in left-rated outlets were more likely than right-rated outlets to highlight business-related reasons Hertz gave for its decision.
Why the Difference: While it may be easy to read Hertz’s decision as bad for EVs and a win for conservative opponents of climate policy, highlighting the explanations given by Hertz executives makes their decision more about business, rather than public support or opposition to EVs.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Center
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If you're looking for an electric car bargain and you're braver than the average bear, you might want to check out Hertz, the car rental agency. After announcing big plans to purchase tens of thousands of EVs from Tesla and then Polestar, it's now liquidating a third of that fleet, the company told investors.
After Hertz went bankrupt during the early days of the pandemic, its big EV ambitions began in 2021, when the company revealed it wanted more than 20 percent of its rental fleet to be electric by...
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Hertz Will Shrink Electric Fleet After Being Burned by Tesla’s Price Cuts
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The electric vehicles the company owned were also more likely to be involved in collisions, Hertz said, and they proved costly to repair. The company said it planned to buy more gasoline-powered vehicles to replace the 20,000...
From the Right
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Rental giant Hertz on Thursday said it will sell off about 20,000 electric vehicles from its fleet and buy more gas-powered cars – a stunning reversal after tapping NFL legend Tom Brady to tout its transition to EVs.
The company said the high costs to repair electric vehicles and a lack of demand among renters led to its decision to abandon those plans.
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