Hertz places high energy order for 175,000 electric vehicles

Hertz is about to get a big jolt.

The Lee County-based car rental giant, behind what company officials call a plan to have the “largest rental fleet of EVs in North America,” announced an agreement to order up to 175,000 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and BrightDrop electric vehicles over the next five years. Hertz and GM, according to a statement, believe this plan is the largest expansion of EVs among fleet customers and “the broadest because it spans a wide range of vehicle categories and price points — from compact and midsize SUVs to pickups, luxury vehicles and more.”

The agreement will encompass electric vehicle deliveries through 2027 as Hertz increases the EV component of its fleet and GM accelerates production of EVs broadly. Over this period, Hertz estimates its customers could travel more than 8 billion miles in these EVs, the release states, saving approximately 3.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions compared to similar gasoline-powered vehicles traveling such a distance. Financial terms of the fleet agreement weren’t disclosed.