Hertz Agrees to Buy 65,000 Polestar EVs Over the Next 5 Years
The vehicles will enter Hertz's European fleet this spring, with North America and Australia to follow.
The Polestar 2 might end up being the coolest car that Hertz offers.
Typically, when you think of the kinds of cars available to rent from major rental car companies, you're probably not imagining chic or cutting-edge vehicles. According to an announcement made on Monday by Volvo-owned automaker Polestar and rental giant Hertz, that could be changing.
Hertz has agreed to purchase up to 65,000 Polestar electric cars over the next five years and add them to its European, North American and Australian fleets starting in the spring of this year for Europe and late 2022 for the US, Canada and Australia. Initial orders will be for the Polestar 2 because the Polestar 1 is almost out of production, and it sells for around $155,000.
"Today's partnership with Polestar further builds on our ambition to become a leading participant in the modern mobility ecosystem and doing so as an environmentally forward company," said Stephen Scherr, Hertz CEO, in a statement. "By working with EV industry leaders like Polestar, we can help accelerate the adoption of electrification while providing renters, corporate customers and ride-share partners a premium EV product, exceptional experience and lower carbon footprint."
This partnership is a good idea for a few reasons. First, this lowers the bar for experiencing what it's like to drive an EV and based on our experience, this is a great way to get people to make the switch for their personal vehicles. You have to love that torque, after all. Next, it's great for Polestar because that first EV experience will be in a Polestar. For Hertz, it makes sense because the Polestar 2 is a cool car that people will likely want to spend extra money to get some time in, building on the 100,000 Teslas the company ordered last year.
