The landscape of the rental car industry will change dramatically in the coming years, with several new electric car models coming to market.
In fact, the giant Hertz announced this week that it plans to add as many as 175,000 pure electric vehicles to its fleet in the future. The order was placed with General Motors, the automaker that has been accelerating its shift to electric propulsion in recent months. At the time of writing, GM is relying solely on its Chevrolet Bolt EV/Chevrolet Bolt EUV tandem, but in recent weeks, the Cadillac – with the Lyriq crossover – and GMC – with the Hummer EV pickup – divisions have been invading the market.
We also know that the Chevrolet division will welcome a few new products in 2023 and 2024, including the Silverado EV pickup and the two Equinox EV and Blazer EV SUVs, and it’s clear that GM isn’t done electrifying its various brands in the North American market. The Buick brand, for example, will have to follow suit if it wants to ride the electric wave.
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST | Photo: Chevrolet
In short, Hertz will have a little more choice in the next two to three years. It’s also worth noting that the rental car giant – which emerged from bankruptcy just a year ago – has already ordered no fewer than 100,000 vehicles from Tesla, in addition to adding some 65,000 vehicles from Polestar, a new player in the electric arena, but one that enjoys the support of Volvo and Geely.
The first deliveries of GM vehicles are scheduled for early next year, with Hertz receiving only the two versions of the Bolt EV, while future electric models based on the Ultium platform will arrive later, and GM needing to find a way to increase production rates, if only to meet its goal of assembling one million electric vehicles per year in North America by 2025.
Hertz, on the other hand, wants a quarter of its fleet to be electric by 2024. It remains to be seen whether the global supply shortages will affect the delivery of all these new electric vehicles to Hertz rental agencies.
