Hertz Announces Plans to Purchase 100,000 Tesla Electric Rental Cars

Car rental company Hertz announced Monday it would purchase 100,000 electric vehicles from Tesla.

According to The Associated Press, Hertz revealed the Tesla Model 3 small cars would be purchased by the end of 2022, but no price was announced. At current rates, the cost of the electric vehicles would equate to around $4 billion.

Hertz interim CEO Mark Fields said the company has the capital and a healthy balance sheet after emerging from bankruptcy protection in June. The car rental giant also said it would set up its own electric vehicle charging network.

Fields revealed the new Tesla cars have started being delivered and should be available for rental starting in November. Hertz announced plans to boast the largest electric vehicle rental fleet in North America, with officials currently working with other automakers on possible orders for additional electric vehicles.

The company also said it plans to build 3,000 chargers in 65 locations across the United States by the end of 2022 and 4,000 by the end of 2023.

To help keep customers safe during the coronavirus pandemic, officials unveiled the Hertz Gold Standard Clean, an enhanced vehicle cleaning and sanitization process that concludes with each vehicle being sealed and certified ‘Hertz Standard Gold Clean’ before each rental.