Hertz has decided it’s time to scale down after making a significant push into electric vehicles in recent years. The corporation plans to sell approximately 20,000 electric vehicles, or one-third of its fleet, and use the proceeds to buy additional gasoline-powered cars.
Executives have stated that Hertz’s finances have been negatively impacted by electric cars because, even though they are less expensive to maintain, they have higher depreciation and damage-repair expenses.
In a recent investor call, Stephen Scherr, CEO of Hertz, stated, “[C]ollision and damage repairs on an EV can often run about twice that associated with a comparable combustion engine vehicle.”
Additionally, the resale value of Hertz’s used electric rental cars has decreased due to drops in EV prices in the new car market.
