Car rental giant Hertz has announced several large-scale electric vehicle purchases from Tesla, GMand Polestaris on track to make EVs a quarter of its fleet by the end of 2024.
That’s a lot of EVs — tens of thousands, and once in place, they’ll quickly overwhelm the existing public fast-charging stations around the airport. So on Tuesday, Hertz and BP announced their intention to develop a national network of thousands of EV charging stations that are clear for all of those vehicles and for the general public.
Polestar at Hertz
With a memorandum of understanding, BP will monitor the toll infrastructure around Hertz locations. It will also write fleet software that will help charge at times that benefit energy costs, thus providing Hertz with real-time insights into its energy usage.
As part of the deal, BP’s charging business BP Pulse will also develop fast charging hubs around high-demand rental locations, with access provided not only to guests products of Hertz but also to the general public. BP Pulse will manage the charging directly at the rental warehouse locations.
According to the companies, charging to handle taxi and ride-hailing drivers has been part of the effort.
Tesla at Hertz
The deal marks a large-scale shift by two legacy companies to electric vehicles. However, Hertz is no stranger to electric cars. Since 2011, the rental company has told Green car report that it needs more EV.
The once oil-backed energy giant has also shown plenty of signs that it’s committed to making a big chunk of the EV charging market. Earlier this year, BP acquired Tritium, a maker of DC fast charging hardware, and last year, after acquiring Amply Power, it rebranded its entire BP Pulse division with the goal of helping to deliver solutions that fleet law.
Businesses that charge no loss leaders. BP earlier this year suggested that its fast charger is profit almost like gas pump, on an escrow basis. BP Pulse itself currently aims to have more than 100,000 chargers globally by 2030, 90% of which will be “fast or ultrafast chargers”.
