Hertz encountered challenges with their EV charging infrastructure, facing issues with inadequate charging banks at their garages, limitations in city grids and airport power sources, leading to employees having to drive cars off-site for charging. This resulted in time-consuming processes, increased labor costs, decreased rental frequency, lower rental rates, and higher repair expenses. The situation prompted a decision to wind down operations, especially exacerbated by Tesla's announcement of price cuts on their lineup, impacting Hertz's car purchases negatively.
When Wall Street investors Tom Wagner and Greg O’Hara took over Hertz, they had ambitious plans. They aimed to revolutionize the car rental business by bringing a record number of electric vehicles into Hertz’s fleet, including 100,000 Teslas. And when Hertz’s IPO launched in 2021, it seemed Wagner and O’Hara had just made a visionary deal.
EVs were hot when Hertz started buying them. But as Bloomberg reporters Erik Schatzker and David Welch tell host Sarah Holder, the company would soon discover that making them work in the rental market was another challenge entirely.
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