Hertz to sell 20,000 EVs, shift back to gas-powered cars

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. is planning to sell 20,000 EVs, almost a third of its EV fleet, to reinvest in gas-powered cars, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

The plan comes due to weak demand and high repair cost of the battery-powered vehicles.

The sale began last month and is set to continue over the course of 2024.

This plan comes after Hertz announced in 2021 it is buying 100,000 Tesla Inc. EVs.

However, there has been a sharp drop in the EV sales over 2023, to only rise by 1.3 per cent by the final quarter of the year.

“The company expects to reinvest a portion of the proceeds from the sale of EVs into the purchase of internal combustion engine vehicles to meet customer demand,” Hertz said in a regulatory filing.

The company also said it “expects this action to better balance supply against expected demand of EVs.”

Bloomberg reported that Hertz shares fell 4.6 per cent in the regular New York trading, with a stock decline of 32 per cent last year.