Hertz heads down electric avenue: the lowdown on renting a Tesla

Hertz Global has placed an order for 100,000 Teslas, one of the largest purchases of electric vehicles. The deal will bring $4.2bn of revenue for the carmaker, Bloomberg News reported. The announcement drove shares of Tesla up more than 12% intraday, hitting a trillion-dollar valuation.

Looking to rent a Tesla for your next trip? Here’s what we know.  

When will these be available for rent?

Model 3 sedans will be available to rent at Hertz locations in major US markets and parts of Europe starting in early November. All 100,000 Teslas will be delivered over the next 14 months. Eventually, Hertz expects to add other makes and models to the fleet. 

The advertising campaign has already begun and Hertz has hired American football star Tom Brady to promote the partnership.

Where can you find them?

Tesla rentals will roll out through the end of the year in US cities including two in Hawaii (Maui and Honolulu), six in California (Sacramento to San Diego) and four in Texas (Dallas to San Antonio). 

For now, one-way rentals are not available, and while autopilot will be enabled, full self-driving will be disabled on the Teslas. Hertz is offering free charging through the end of January.

How much will they cost?

The rental rates will be “similar” to premium and luxury vehicles, Lauren Luster, a spokesperson for Hertz, said. But for Hertz, the price will be steep: the company is paying full price for the Teslas rather than the typical base-model, heavily discounted sedans that populate rental lots.

Why does this matter?

This is Hertz’s first major move since emerging from near-bankruptcy four months ago. The electrification plan, which will eventually encompass almost all of the company’s 500,000 vehicles worldwide, signals that the second-largest US car-rental company is ready to shake up an industry dominated by large players that are typically slow to change.

The deal also offers Hertz access to Tesla’s software and apps, Trip Chowdhry, an analyst at Global Equities Research, wrote in a note to clients. The Teslas will come pre-installed with a Hertz app that will offer features such as on-demand access to autopilot and options to add more Supercharger credits, all of which can lead to additional incremental income, Chowdhry said. 

Bloomberg News. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com