Rental car company Hertz has ordered a fleet of 100,000 Teslas worth around $4.2 billion, according to a report from Bloomberg. Citing anonymous sources familiar with the deal, Bloomberg says the cars will be delivered over the next 14 months, part of an ambitious plan by Hertz to electrify its fleet just months after the company escaped bankruptcy.
The order is the single largest ever for electric cars, says Bloomberg, and has already buoyed Tesla’s stock, which was up 4.3 percent on the news in pre-market trading. It was also reported this morning that Tesla’s Model 3 became the first electric vehicle to top monthly sales charts in Europe this September. Earlier this month, the company reported record sales in its third quarter, despite chip shortages denting the automotive market.
Bloomberg says that the first of the Tesla Model 3s will be available to rent from Hertz in major US and European markets from early November. Renters will be able to use Tesla’s network of superchargers, and Hertz is reportedly planning on creating its own network of chargers to supplement Tesla’s to help ease range anxiety.
Hertz went into bankruptcy in May last year, after the car rental market was hit hard by the pandemic. The company, which is more than a hundred years old, was eventually re-financed to the tune of $5.9 billion by investors led by Knighthead Capital Management and Certares Management. According to Bloomberg, Hertz now plans to electrify nearly all of its roughly 500,000 cars and vans, with the Tesla order comprising a significant first chunk.
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