According to the latest news, rental car company Hertz has ordered as many as 100,000 Tesla Model 3 sedans as part of an ambitious plan to electrify its fleet. In a press statement, Hertz said, the first tranche of Model 3 sedans will be available to rent from Hertz in major US and European markets from early November. Interestingly, this announcement comes just months after Hertz escaped bankruptcy.
The purchase report was first reported by Bloomberg. The publishing house reported this deal as the single largest order ever for electric vehicles. The deal was worth $4.2 billion in revenue for Tesla. Tesla’s stock was up 4.3 percent on the news in pre-market trading. This morning, it was also reported that Tesla’s Model 3 became the first electric vehicle to top monthly sales charts in Europe last month. Earlier this month, Tesla reported record sales in its third quarter even though it had to fight a chip shortage that dented the auto industry across the globe.
It is to be noted that anyone renting a Tesla from Hertz will be able to use Tesla’s network of 3,000 superchargers across the US and Europe. Hertz said it is planning to supplement these chargers with “thousands” of its own “throughout its location network.”
Last year, in May, Hertz went into bankruptcy after the car rental market was hit hard by the pandemic. This more than a hundred years old company was eventually refinanced $5.9 billion by investors like Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management. Bloomberg reported that Hertz now plans to electrify almost all of its roughly 500,000 cars and vans.
Recently, in a press statement, Hertz’s interim CEO Mark Fields said: “Electric vehicles are now mainstream, and we’ve only just begun to see rising global demand and interest. The new Hertz is going to lead the way as a mobility company, starting with the largest EV rental fleet in North America and a commitment to grow our EV fleet and provide the best rental and recharging experience for leisure and business customers around the world.” In order to market its efforts, Hertz has launched a new ad campaign featuring Tom Brady.
