Hertz will order up to 175,000 electric vehicles from General Motors over the next five years, according to an announcement from the two companies Tuesday that says they believe it’s the largest EV expansion among fleet customers to date.
The vehicles from Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and BrightDrop are to encompass everything from compact and midsize SUVs to pickups and luxury vehicles and a variety price points, according to a news release.
Hertz said its customers could travel more than 8 billion miles in the EVs, saving about 3.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions compared with similar gasoline-powered vehicles traveling such a distance, the release said.
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The rental service plans to take delivery beginning in the first quarter of next year of Chevrolet Bolt EVs and Bolt EUVs. GM’s deliveries would increase as EV production ramps up by 2025, “driven by the opening of Ultium Cells battery cell plants in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan. GM plans annual production capacity of 1 million EVs in North America by 2025,” the release said.
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Hertz said its goal is for a quarter of its fleet to be electric by the end of 2024.
GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra called the company’s work with Hertz “a huge step forward for emissions reduction and EV adoption that will help create thousands of new EV customers for GM.”
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence. Become a subscriber.