10,000 Teslas Discounted by Hertz!

After selling 20,000 of its Tesla fleet in January, the rental company Hertz is putting a new lot of 10,000 vehicles up for sale.

A few months ago, the car rental company Hertz boasted about reducing the maintenance cost of its electric fleet by five times compared to its gasoline fleet, thanks to the reliability of its Teslas. Fewer breakdowns, less servicing, fewer driving errors, particularly regarding the clutch and gearbox—pure joy!

Hertz had become the ultimate rental company for electric vehicles, widely distributing battery-powered vehicles to business travelers, rideshare drivers, and those curious about this new technology. To this end, the company had signed agreements with Tesla and Polestar to purchase nearly 200,000 electric vehicles. Tesla’s valuation even surpassed $1 trillion following the announcement.

End of the Tesla Hype?

However, like many other aspects of the transition to electric vehicles, this plan faced headwinds. By the end of 2023, Hertz announced it was slowing the deployment of its electric vehicles, citing the drop in resale value of these models and the high cost of repairs. Hertz’s CEO, Stephen Scherr, tried to justify this failed strategy, but ultimately he couldn’t survive and was ousted last March. The saddest part is that in a few years, people might say he was right before others…

This week, classifieds appeared on Hertz’s website offering Model 3s starting at $17,000! The initial batches sold like hotcakes, but it is still possible to find models around $20,000. This is by no means an isolated event, as before Hertz, Sixt had also decided to part ways with its Tesla fleet.