Hertz to sell 20,000 EVs in shift back to gas-powered cars

[MapleLeafFarmer]

I guess it didn't work out well for them.
Selling these Tesla's going to cost them. taking $1/4 BILLION hit this quarter alone.
Stock price last year down almost 35% (ouch).
Glad they not be part of my portfolio,

Hertz to Sell 20,000 EVs in Shift Back to Gas-Powered Cars

(Bloomberg) -- Hertz Global Holdings Inc. plans to sell a third of its US electric vehicle fleet and reinvest in gas-powered cars due to weak demand and high repair costs for its battery-powered options.Most Read from BloombergGoogle Lays Off Hundreds in Hardware, Assistant, EngineeringSEC...

ca.finance.yahoo.com

 

[mcfarmall]

EV's are great if you live in a 15 minute city. Having people spread out far and wide makes them more difficult to control.

 

[PHPaul]

But...but...but...I thought EV's were going to Save the Planet? Won't someone please think of the children? [/sarchasm]

 

[aaluck]

Turn around on a gas car is about 10 minutes. Electric...it depends on their battery charge when returned. Cars that are sitting (charging) do not make money. Further, why would I want my company to pay for the fuel (power). Gas car...bring it back full or pay $6.00/gallon to fill it--making even more money instead of spending it. Not to mention repair costs/time.

I'm not the CEO of a rental company but even I know this is/was a bad decision.

 

[Flintknapper]

Turn around on a gas car is about 10 minutes. Electric...it depends on their battery charge when returned. Cars that are sitting (charging) do not make money. Further, why would I want my company to pay for the fuel (power). Gas car...bring it back full or pay $6.00/gallon to fill it--making even more money instead of spending it. Not to mention repair costs/time.

I'm not the CEO of a rental company but even I know this is/was a bad decision.

^^^^^

Yep, should not have required a Abject Lesson to see it was a patently bad idea from the start.

But it seems the world is full of 'wokeness' and educated idiots these days. Just ask Budweiser.

 

[Fordtech86]

 

[Vince1230]

I wonder how much they got in goverment incentives when buying. There were some incentives to buy EV.

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

I just returned from a short trip to PHX where I was offered a Polestar or Bolt instead of the 2 door compact at the same rate as they did not have the cheap cars prepped. The Polestar was NLA when I got downstairs to drive off so I got a 2023 Bolt EUV. Nice car, powerful, large enough for 4 but I was alone. Easy to learn after 5 minutes trying to get it into drive in the dark at 6:30am. It allowed me to drive 275 miles with an hour’s level 2 charge up at a friendly business for free. The level 2 chargers are VERY slow so I only put 25 miles worth in to get back to the airport- about 125 miles away. Cost for “fuel” $0. The downside was I opted for the collision insurance due to the repair cost being unknown if i crimped it up.
My contract said $35 if it was not 80% full on return but it was near empty with 15 miles left. They did not add the recharge fee. Overall it was a good experience and I’d rent one again.

 

[mikester]

But wait "Hertz Global Holdings Inc. plans to sell a third of its US electric vehicle fleet and reinvest in gas-powered cars due to weak demand and high repair costs for its battery-powered options."

They should have bought Teslas because they don't ever need repairs or maintenance and electricity is FREE

 

[DustyRusty]

But wait "Hertz Global Holdings Inc. plans to sell a third of its US electric vehicle fleet and reinvest in gas-powered cars due to weak demand and high repair costs for its battery-powered options."

They should have bought Teslas because they don't ever need repairs or maintenance and electricity is FREE

The shift back to more conventional cars marks a reversal of a strategy centered on EVs, which the company hoped would fetch higher prices at the counter and hold their value. Tesla’s price cuts over the past year lowered the value of the cars in Hertz’s fleet and with EV sales growth slowing, it’s not clear if consumers will have an appetite for them in the used-car market.

 

[Jchonline]

The CFO speak is a bunch of junk....no one wants to rent an EV and deal with all of the charging issues plain and simple. When traveling it is hard enough to manage everything and time is often limited (especially business trips). Having to deal with charging for hours just doesn't sit well with many people.

Current EVs are a compromise to ICE vehicles. Once we get past the inefficient and underproductive Li Ion batteries and into something that has much better power density the world will change to EVs. For instance an EV that can travel 2000 miles on a charge would be enough for me to buy one over an ICE. Why not 1000? Well I am an hour out of the city at 9000 ft wind is 40 mph with ambient temp 5 deg F...1000 miles quickly becomes 500 miles in these conditions. My F-250 truck has 600 mile range already.

 

[The Evil Twin]

I wonder how much they got in goverment incentives when buying. There were some incentives to buy EV.

You spelled 'taxpayer funded incentives" wrong. The government has no money to give.

 

[mikester]

I'm not sure about DustyRusty's point. My point about the EV glue sniffers is their claims about EV's not requiring any sort of maintenance and free electricity is total BS. Big business will use whatever is most cost effective and reliable.

I took a look online to see if there were any sort of deals on used Telsa's yet. I don't consider it much of a deal when a 5 year old Tesla with 150K miles and no warranty is going for $5K cheaper than new. No thanks.

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

What does “repair costs” mean? I assumed it meant what it cost when a customer dented or bumped the car and it needed work. I doubt any of the EV’s will need much of any maintenance during the time the rental company owns them. Maintenance is what seems to be assumed here. Which was it? NOTE: for the issue of expensive REPAIR of damage I opted for the collision insurance as noted in my previous post. Repairing these rarer cars and especially when the electrical system needs it, might be a huge cost. I wasn’t willing to trust my credit card company to cover it and I didn’t want to be responsible either.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

OK, one 'real world' repair cost that I know.
Guy pulls into a drive through coffee shop a little too tight, scrapes the right side rocker panel under the door just in front of rear wheel well. Final bill was going to be $13,000 CDN. yeah I saw the estimate for that. battery R&R was $$! needed as rocker and fender were to be replaced.They also charged for the 4 'hockey pucks' to lift car up.
Had car been 'normal' and steel, $2500 would have been the bottom line.

 

[mikester]

What does “repair costs” mean? I assumed it meant what it cost when a customer dented or bumped the car and it needed work. I doubt any of the EV’s will need much of any maintenance during the time the rental company owns them. Maintenance is what seems to be assumed here. Which was it? NOTE: for the issue of expensive REPAIR of damage I opted for the collision insurance as noted in my previous post. Repairing these rarer cars and especially when the electrical system needs it, might be a huge cost. I wasn’t willing to trust my credit card company to cover it and I didn’t want to be responsible either.

We were looking for a new PHEV this summer. I asked my insurance the cost difference between a Prius Prime PHEV and a Tesla 3. The Telsa insurance premium would jump $400 per year to insure and the minimum deductible is $1,000 due to "high repair costs".

For us the extra insurance costs would eliminate any fuel cost savings by going EV.

 

[wp6529]

We were looking for a new PHEV this summer. I asked my insurance the cost difference between a Prius Prime PHEV and a Tesla 3. The Telsa insurance premium would jump $400 per year to insure and the minimum deductible is $1,000 due to "high repair costs".

For us the extra insurance costs would eliminate any fuel cost savings by going EV.

At the moment, the plug-in hybrid seems to be the best option for anyone who lives outside an urban area. Run EV when you can and if no time or charge facilities available you aren't stuck and can still run gas.

 

[The Evil Twin]

What does “repair costs” mean? I assumed it meant what it cost when a customer dented or bumped the car and it needed work. I doubt any of the EV’s will need much of any maintenance during the time the rental company owns them. Maintenance is what seems to be assumed here. Which was it? NOTE: for the issue of expensive REPAIR of damage I opted for the collision insurance as noted in my previous post. Repairing these rarer cars and especially when the electrical system needs it, might be a huge cost. I wasn’t willing to trust my credit card company to cover it and I didn’t want to be responsible either.

Multiple sources note that the real world maintenance costs of a EV are (edited) $800 higher than gas counterparts in the first 5 years according to KBB.

 

[ken erickson]

More happy EV owners.

 

[The Evil Twin]

More happy EV owners.

I used to feel for them. Not any more. People should know by now.