Hertz offers renters EV deals to offload depreciating inventory

Hertz is reportedly pushing a proposition to customers renting an EV from the company — buy it and see if you like owning it.

The details: The rental company is apparently ramping up its sales strategies to get renters to consider purchasing electric vehicles available in its fleet, including Tesla, Polestar and Chevy Bolt models. The pricing for the EVs varies, depending on the model and mileage.  

• A Hertz customer renting a 2023 Tesla Model 3 claimed on a Reddit post that they were offered a price of $17,913 to purchase the vehicle, which had about 30,000 miles.

• And a 2022 Model 3 featured on Hertz’s Car for Sale section with 136,200 miles has a listed price of $19,736.

• Another renter claims they were offered a 2023 Bolt EV for $18,442 – and the renter of Polestar says they saw a Polestar 2 listed for $28,500.  

Hertz’s used vehicle offers include a limited 12-month, 12,000-mile powertrain warranty and an offer to sell the vehicle back to the rental company within seven days or 250 miles if a buyer changes their mind.            

Between the lines: According to Hertz, this marketing strategy isn’t something new. But after incurring steep EV depreciation costs over the last few years ($937 million in Q3) — the company appears to be ramping up its efforts to offload inventory — especially considering federal EV tax credits might end next year.

• In 2023, Hertz announced that it was scaling back on plans to electrify its fleet due to low demand for EVs and challenges associated with repairing the vehicles. 

• On top of that — the rental company ditched previously announced plans to buy Polestar 2 vehicles and moved to put 30,000 Teslas in its fleet up for sale.  

Final note: Hertz is doubling down on selling its EV fleet directly to renters to offload inventory and mitigate further losses.

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