Hertz and car manufacturer General Motors have signed a major deal for up to 175,000 electric vehicles (EVs) over the next five years.
The two US-based companies said that they believed the order for EVs was the “largest expansion of EVs among fleet customers”, as Hertz looks to offer more of the environmentally friendly vehicles to corporate clients.
The deal will see General Motors deliver a range of EVs across its Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and BrightDrop brands up to 2027. Vehicles will range from compact and midsize SUVs to pick-ups and luxury cars.
Deliveries of Chevrolet’s Bolt EV and Bolt EUV to Hertz are expected to start in the first quarter of 2023. GM will then step up deliveries between 2023 and 2025 as the car manufacturer “rapidly scales” its EV production lines in the US.
Stephen Scherr, Hertz’s CEO, said the agreement would help to “redefine the future of mobility”, with the car rental company aiming for 25 per cent 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 travellers, rideshare drivers and corporates,” added Scherr.
Over the course of the five-year deal, Hertz estimates that its customers could travel more than eight billion miles in the new EVs, which would save around 1.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions compared with petrol-powered vehicles travelling 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,” said GM’s CEO Mary Barra.