Less than a year ago, we reported on the news that Hertz was ordering a stunning 100,000 Tesla cars — one hundred thousand. It was such big news that many didn’t even believe it, thinking it was “fake news.” An extra fascinating element to it is that Mark Fields was the Hertz interim CEO at the time, and Fields was previously the CEO of Ford. Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk chimed in at some point to say, “I’d like to emphasize that no contract has been signed yet.” That got some pushback from the Hertz team, which emphasized some cars had already been delivered. Despite the skepticism and the communications issues around the deal, the following three quarters have shown Hertz was dead serious about ordering all those Tesla cars and putting them into service around the United States.
The latest news, as shown in the headline, is that Tesla vehicles have been added at 15 more Hertz locations around the United States, in addition to the initial 7 locations. That puts the total number of Hertz locations with Tesla vehicles at 22, an apt stepping stone for 2022. Though, I expect more locations will get Teslas before the year is out. The biggest cause delay is probably just Tesla’s order backlog and supply–demand imbalance. I was talking with someone on the tennis court yesterday who said that his order for a Model Y was just pushed back to April–July 2023. Yowzers! The good news — it gives him more time to save up the money for his Model Y. The bad news — he’s spending a fortune every week on gasoline!
Tom Brady on the set of the Hertz “Let’s Go” campaign. Celebrating the future of mobility by making electric vehicle rentals fast, seamless and more accessible than ever before. Image courtesy of Hertz.” data-medium-file=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2021/10/Tom-Brady-Hertz-Tesla-rental-car-400×267.jpeg” data-large-file=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2021/10/Tom-Brady-Hertz-Tesla-rental-car-800×534.jpeg” loading=”lazy” class=”size-full wp-image-251700″ src=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2021/10/Tom-Brady-Hertz-Tesla-rental-car.jpeg” alt=”” width=”1300″ height=”867″ srcset=”https://cleantechnica.com/files/2021/10/Tom-Brady-Hertz-Tesla-rental-car.jpeg 1300w, https://cleantechnica.com/files/2021/10/Tom-Brady-Hertz-Tesla-rental-car-400×267.jpeg 400w, https://cleantechnica.com/files/2021/10/Tom-Brady-Hertz-Tesla-rental-car-800×534.jpeg 800w, https://cleantechnica.com/files/2021/10/Tom-Brady-Hertz-Tesla-rental-car-768×512.jpeg 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 1300px) 100vw, 1300px”/>
Tom Brady on the set of the Hertz “Let’s Go” campaign. Celebrating the future of mobility by making electric vehicle rentals fast, seamless and more accessible than ever before. Image courtesy of Hertz.
And that brings us to a key point that shouldn’t be overlooked with these new Hertz cars. While we EV drivers often forget about the pain people are facing at the pump, it is a real growth in costs for many people. Rental cars often get a lot of miles put on them, and that again means high gas costs — especially in high-cost markets where people tend to go on vacation or on business trips. Being able to save a good chunk of coin on “fuel” costs while traveling is going to help ease personal, family, and corporate budget challenges.
JUST-IN: Updated Teslas at Hertz Locations. $tsla $htz @SawyerMerritt pic.twitter.com/Ih0cIbOWHv
— Mikey (@OranjaboomsMike) July 11, 2022
The new locations for Hertz Tesla rental cars, as you can see in the screenshot above, are:
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Boston, Massachusetts
Burbank, California
Chicago, Illinois
Cincinnati, Ohio
Colorado Mountains, Colorado
Dallas, Texas
Denver, Colorado
Las Vegas, Nevada
Newark, New Jersey
New York City, New York
Phoenix, Arizona
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sacramento, California
San Diego, California
San Jose, California.
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As Elon Musk tweeted back at the time of the announcement, unlike other carmakers, Tesla doesn’t offer any fleet discounts. In fact, Elon famously never gave discounts on Tesla vehicles to his family members or close friends — everyone had to pay full price. (Of course, in the early days, Elon knew the chance of survival was slim and Tesla needed every dime it could get.)
To be clear, cars sold to Hertz have no discount. Same price as to consumers.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2021
Football legend Tom Brady was the famous face of the bit Tesla–Hertz deal last year. While it’s common for celebrities to put their smile on a product for a big wad of cash in order to help the company move product, what was noteworthy about this celebrity endorsement was that Tom is a very happy Tesla owner and has been one for a long time. Mr. Brady talked with Bloomberg Technology about that last November when interviewed about the blockbuster Hertz announcement. He has also long been a Hertz customer. Maybe he did the commercials pro bono? (Hahahaha.)
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As a longtime Tesla Model 3 owner myself, I can’t think of a better option for additions to the Hertz fleet than a combination of Tesla Model Y and Tesla Model 3 vehicles. We’ve also recently published an initial review of a new Tesla Model 3 from a couple of EV enthusiasts and multi-EV owners who have joined the CleanTechnica team. Check that out below if you haven’t seen it yet.
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I have not seen any news on Hertz expanding its use of Tesla vehicles globally, beyond the United States, but one would hope that’s in order as well. All around the world, people are eager to rent electric cars when on vacation or business trips, and Tesla offers one of the most seamless experiences in Europe, China, Japan, Australia, as well as the United States and Canada. In Europe, plugin vehicles now account for about 15–20% of new vehicle sales! Electric is becoming not just a “nice to have” but a “must have.” Rental car fleets surely recognize that and will be adding more and more electric cars to their options list.
“Electric vehicles are now mainstream, and we’ve only just begun to see rising global demand and interest,” said Hertz interim CEO Mark Fields said last year. “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.”
What we do know from last year is EVs are expected to be available in 65 Hertz markets by the end of 2022 and 100 markets by the end of 2023. So, we can expect many more announcements in the coming 5–17 months. Will Hertz stop adding electric cars after that? Surely not! However, it may start broadening its electric vehicle options then, since not everyone wants a Tesla and there are more and more compelling electric cars hitting the market — from the Ford Mustang Mach-E and Ford F-150 Lightning to the Kia EV6 and Hyundai IONIQ 5, from the Cadillac Lyriq to the Rivian R1T.
Which electric vehicle models do you think Hertz will add next?
In which markets do you think Hertz will next launch Tesla offerings?
Have you experienced a Tesla rental from Hertz yet?
Chime in down below with your answers to any of these fun questions!
Related story: Electric Rental Cars Are Here! What Will The Result Of The Hertz & Tesla Partnership Be?
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