Hertz and General Motors today announced an agreement in which the car rental giant plans to order up to 175,000 electric vehicles from almost all of the automaker's brands over the next five years.
Hertz said it would buy EVs from the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and BrightDrop brands, with the plan being billed as the largest expansion of EVs among fleet customers and the broadest because of the wide range of vehicle categories and price points involved—from compact and midsize SUVs to pickups, luxury vehicles and delivery vans.
As part of the agreement, General Motors will supply Hertz with electric vehicles through 2027 as the rental car company increases the EV component of its fleet and GM accelerates production of EVs broadly.
Over this period, Hertz estimates that its customers could travel more than 8 billion miles in these EVs, which would save approximately 3.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions compared to similar gasoline-powered vehicles traveling the same distance.
"Our work with Hertz is a huge step forward for emissions reduction and EV adoption that will help create thousands of new EV customers for GM. With the vehicle choice, technology and driving range we're delivering, I'm confident that each rental experience will further increase purchase consideration for our products and drive growth for our company."
GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra
With investments like this, Hertz aims to create the largest rental fleet of EVs in North America, with tens of thousands of EVs available for rent at 500 of its locations across 38 states. The company's current goal is for 25 percent of its fleet to be electric by the end of 2024.
"We are thrilled to partner with GM on this initiative, which will dramatically expand our EV offering to Hertz customers, including leisure and business travelers, rideshare drivers and corporates."
Stephen Scherr, Hertz CEO
The first GM electric vehicles that will be delivered to Hertz are the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, expected to start shipping in the first quarter of 2023. GM is projected to increase deliveries to Hertz between 2023 and 2025, when it will rapidly scale its EV production driven by the opening of Ultium Cells battery cell plants in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan.
By 2025, GM plans to have an annual production capacity of 1 million EVs in North America.
