On September 20, 2022, car rental company Hertz Corp. announced that it has agreed to order up to 175,000 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, and BrightDrop electric vehicles (EVs) from General Motors Co. (GM) over the next five years.[1] According to the press release, the companies believe that the plan is the largest expansion of EVs among fleet customers as well as the broadest because it spans a wide range of vehicle categories and price points. The agreement will include EV deliveries through 2027. During this period, Hertz estimates that its customers could travel more than 8 billion miles in these EVs, saving about 3.5 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions compared to similar gasoline-powered vehicles.

The rental car company aims to create the largest EV rental fleet in North America, with thousands of EVs available at Hertz locations across 38 states. Currently, Hertz’s goal is for one-quarter of its fleet to be electric by the end of 2024. The company expects to begin taking Chevrolet Bolt EVs and Bolt EUVs in Q1 2023. GM’s deliveries are projected to increase as it rapidly scales its EV production between 2023 and 2025. The ramp up in EV production will largely be driven by the opening of Ultium Cells battery cell plants in Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan. The company plans an annual production capacity of 1 million EVs in North America by 2025.

[1] https://newsroom.hertz.com/news-releases/news-release-details/hertz-and-gm-plan-major-ev-expansion