Rent a Car companies are realizing the economic disaster of EV’s.
“US-based rental car company Hertz announced back in 2021 it was ordering 100,000 Tesla electric vehicles (EVs) by the end of 2022, though in reality it’s still far from this number.
As reported by CNBC, Hertz currently has only 50,000 EVs in its fleet, with 35,000 of them being Teslas.
Hertz Global CEO Stephen Scherr said during the company’s recent third-quarter earnings call that ‘our in-fleeting of EVs will be slower than our prior expectations’.
The article continued, noting that those third-quarter earnings were “lower than expected” in large part, due to that pledged transition:
‘Collision and damage repairs on an EV can often run about twice that associated with a comparable combustion engine vehicle,’ said Mr Scherr.
Can your family afford a new $30,000 battery or repairs? The professionals understand the economic [problems—Biden and Newsom do not care.
Prominent car rental company reneges on promises of an EV fleet citing ‘twice’ the cost
By Olivia Murray, American Thinker, 11/2/23 https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/11/prominent_car_rental_company_reneges_on_promises_of_an_ev_fleet_citing_twice_the_cost.html
American Thinker is fortunate enough to have a number of friends around the world, and one of those friends, an Aussie, sent me a story with this lede from the JoNova blog:
Hertz was aiming to make 25% of its fleet electric by 2024, but is finding 11% is too much. Given there are whole nations pushing for 100% EV by 2035 there seems to be a message here…
The original item came from a car outlet, and reported that Hertz was dialing back on promises the company had made to transition a sizable portion of its rental fleet from gas-powered vehicles to rechargeable ones, citing “higher than expected repair costs and price cuts.” From that article for the backstory:
US-based rental car company Hertz announced back in 2021 it was ordering 100,000 Tesla electric vehicles (EVs) by the end of 2022, though in reality it’s still far from this number.
As reported by CNBC, Hertz currently has only 50,000 EVs in its fleet, with 35,000 of them being Teslas.
Hertz Global CEO Stephen Scherr said during the company’s recent third-quarter earnings call that ‘our in-fleeting of EVs will be slower than our prior expectations’.
The article continued, noting that those third-quarter earnings were “lower than expected” in large part, due to that pledged transition:
‘Collision and damage repairs on an EV can often run about twice that associated with a comparable combustion engine vehicle,’ said Mr Scherr.
…
‘On a unit basis, we achieved productivity gains across most categories of auto. The exception remained vehicle damage costs, particularly those on our EVs….’
‘The MSRP declines in EVs over the course of 2023, driven primarily by Tesla, have driven the fair market value of our EVs lower as compared to last year, such that as salvage creates a larger loss and therefore greater burden,’ said Mr Scherr.
Twice the cost to repair the vehicle after an accident? Repairs that are so expensive, it makes more fiscal sense to trash the car altogether than try and salvage it post-wreck?
As Jo Nova said, “there seems to be a message here” but I’d say there are a number of messages. First, talk about waste—typical from the movement that claims to be all about recycling and reusing. E.V.s are a hallmark part of the “green” cult forcing policies to save the planet… yet they push for cars that by design, are one-and-done rides when they get into an accident? Cars that had a massively detrimental effect on the earth to mine for the minerals needed to power them? Cars that will have another negative impact, when they take up a noticeable portion of real estate either in a dump or in an “E.V. graveyard” like we see in China? According to recent data, there are right around 20,000 car wrecks each day in the U.S.—what happens if they’re all E.V.s, like the left wishes? These people are totally demented.
Second of all, talk about unaffordable. The U.S. is around $33 trillion in debt, and with our status as the world reserve currency, when we’re in debt, we’re stealing from the rest of the globe too. The E.V. industry is already tremendously subsidized, and the idea just isn’t good enough to make it—can we just cut our losses and be done with it?
Then a reader relayed this story to me, for the impractical:
A friend recently rented a car at the Portland, Maine airport and the rental car company pushed E.V.s hard, with a discount because few people were renting them. Who wants the aggravation of finding a charging station and waiting while charging? Especially if they’re driving in rural areas for leaf-watching.
Huh, imagine that—when you need a reliable car to get from A to B, you’re not going to pick an E.V.
But here’s the main lesson: battery-powered cars are a ridiculous endeavor, any way you consider it.
Obviously, the initiative came about to score some ESG points, but naturally, given the fact this is a corporation and the ultimate goal is profits, reneging on promises and abandoning the ESG brownie points is an easy choice if you’re hemorrhaging dollars. But, greenies would still tell you these fat cat executives “really care” about the environment and the cause. Give me a break.
Hat tip: John McMahon, Kolonga, Qld Australia.
