What a Gas! Rental Car Company Does a Fast U-Turn on Switch to EV Fleet (Guess Why)

Doug P. | 12:25 PM on January 11, 2024

The government, both federal and some states, are keeping up their push for electric vehicles, and they can "afford" to because governments can go into insurmountable debt and print money so the cost is of no matter to them (they leave the problem for future generations).

However, in the private sector, things like costs matter, and one example of a company making a U-turn away from going electric for that reason can be seen in this story about Hertz:

Popular car rental service Hertz announced it will get rid of 20,000 electric vehicles from its fleet because of the high cost of fixing them. https://t.co/yqdTy7OXfh
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) January 11, 2024

Hertz plans to sell a third of its US electric vehicle fleet and reinvest in gas-powered cars due to weak demand and high repair costs for its battery-powered options https://t.co/xszLSzECdC pic.twitter.com/kV9rFNKkdC
— Bloomberg (@business) January 11, 2024

Who could have possibly predicted this?

Popular car rental service Hertz announced it will get rid of 20,000 electric vehicles from its fleet because of the high cost of fixing them.
The company decided to sell after discovering the vehicles were more expensive to repair after a collision than gas-powered cars.
“Expenses related to collision and damage, primarily associated with EVs, remained high in the quarter, thereby supporting the company’s decision to initiate the material reduction in the EV fleet,” Hertz said in a statement.