In recent years, Hertz has made large purchases of electric cars, especially from Tesla. Now they have decided to replace 20 of their electric cars with petrol cars. The rationale is thought provoking for all electric car owners.
According to the news agency Reuters Hertz has decided to cut the proportion of electric cars in the US by around a third and replace them with petrol cars. They are thus not going to reach their own goal that 25% of the car fleet should be electric by the end of 2024. Furthermore, they are also not completing plans from 2022 for the purchase of 100 Tesla cars, nor carrying out a planned purchase from Polestar .
– Hidden costs of owning electric cars
There are purely financial reasons behind Hertz's decision to cut the proportion of electric cars. In 2020, the car rental company was close to bankruptcy.
There is nothing wrong with the electric cars, but they have nevertheless cost the company dearly. According to Hertz, their electric cars are more often prone to damage than petrol cars, and the repairs are more expensive and time-consuming. Tesla is not explicitly mentioned in this context, but Tesla accounts for 80% of their electric cars in the US. It is also a known problem that Tesla is struggling to get spare parts delivered.
Another and more weighty reason is the high loss in value of electric cars in the past year. As is well known, Tesla chose to make a sharp price cut in January 2023, which meant that other electric car manufacturers had to do the same. Hertz therefore expects a significant additional loss on its electric cars purchased in 2021 and 2022 - estimated at USD 12 per car.
This is a food for thought for anyone who bought a Tesla or other electric cars before 2023. The fact that electric cars require less maintenance and have cheaper fuel than cars with thermal engines is like a pittance compared to the loss in value over the past year. This has become a hidden cost of owning an electric car.
The sale is underway
Hertz in the US sells cars at auctions and through its own website Hertz Rent2Buy. Here you can find 2-3 year old Tesla 3 for sale from USD 21, equivalent to NOK 000. The news that Hertz is selling off Teslas on the cheap may attract buyers from Norway. Perhaps a batch of these cars will appear here at home and also push Norwegian used car prices down further?
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