Hertz to Purchase up to 65,000 Electric Vehicles From Volvo's Brand Polestar Over the Next 5 Years

author: Eric Walz   

The fully-electric Polestar 2 will soon be available to rent from Hertz.

Renting a fully-electric car from Hertz will be a lot easier in the future as the company continues to electrify its rental car fleet. In Oct 2021, Hertz said its would purchase 100,000 Tesla Model 3s for its fleet. Now the company plans to add thousands of electric vehicles to its fleet from Volvo's electric brand Polestar as part of a new global partnership.

Hertz announced on Monday that it will purchase up to 65,000 electric vehicles from Polestar over five years. Availability of the Polestar vehicles is expected to begin this Spring in Europe and late 2022 in North America and Australia.

The partnership is part of Hertz's ongoing commitment to lead in electrification, shared mobility and a digital-first customer experience that will make reserving and renting an electric vehicle from Hertz hassle-free.

Hertz aims to offer the largest electric rental fleet in North America. In addition, the company is extending EVs to rideshare drivers as a way to further accelerate electrification. 

"We are excited to partner with Polestar and look forward to introducing their premium EV products into our retail and rideshare fleets," said Stephen Scherr, Hertz CEO. "By working with EV industry leaders like Polestar, we can help accelerate the adoption of electrification while providing renters, corporate customers and rideshare partners a premium EV product, exceptional experience and lower carbon footprint."

Polestar is the new standalone EV brand jointly operated by Sweden's Volvo Cars with support from its parent company Chinese automaker Geely Holding. The company was founded in 2017 Polestar was founded in 2017 as a new electric-performance brand to compete with Tesla and China-based EV startups XPeng and NIO Inc.   

Hertz said it will initially order the Polestar 2 from the automaker. The Polestar 2 is currently manufactured at two facilities in China. 

The Polestar 2 was recognized as the world's first vehicle to come with Google's new Android Automotive OS embedded in the infotainment system, which allows drivers and passengers to access popular Google services such as Maps, Play and Assistant without having to sync a smartphone. 

In March, Polestar announced that the single-motor variant of the Polestar 2 will be available for the first time in the U.S. The EV offers up to 270 miles of range and is the lowest priced vehicle in Polestar's current lineup with a starting price of $45,900.

In December 2021, Polestar CEO, Thomas Ingenlath, hosted investors and press at a series of events in New York to discuss the company's future vision and growth plans, including the launch of its next vehicle, an electric SUV.

The Polestar 3, will be a sleek electric-performance SUV that will compete with the Tesla Model Y and other similar electric crossovers. It will launch later this year and the full reveal of the electric SUV is expected soon.

The Polestar 3 will also be the first Polestar vehicle built in the U.S., with production set to take place at Volvo's factory in Charleston, South Carolina. All of the Polestar 3 vehicles built in South Carolina will be sold in the U.S., the company said.

"Polestar is committed to accelerating the move to electric mobility with a fascinating and innovative product portfolio," said Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath. "The partnership with a global pioneer like Hertz will bring the amazing experience of driving an electric car to a wider audience, satisfying a broad variety of our mutual customers' short- and longer-term mobility requirements. For many of them it may be the first time they have driven an EV, and it will be a Polestar."

Also last October, Hertz announced a second partnership with Uber to add up to 50,000 Tesla vehicles to its platform by 2023. It allows Uber drivers to rent one by the day. The Hertz-Uber partnership makes it easier for Uber drivers to rent an electric vehicle by eliminating the long-term commitments of purchasing or or leasing a car.

The Tesla Model 3s will be made available through Uber's driver rental program, which allows qualified drivers to rent a vehicle so they don't have to use their personal vehicle to drive for the company.

In Sept 2021, Polestar announced an agreement to merge with special purpose acquisition company ("SPAC") Gores Guggenheim, Inc. Upon closing of the proposed business combination, the combined new company will be named "Polestar Automotive Holding UK Limited."

The deal would make Polestar a public company listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "PSNY."

Polestar is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company's vehicles are available in markets across Europe, North America, China and Asia Pacific. By 2023, Polestar plans to expand to 30 new markets. 

Eric Walz

Originally hailing from New Jersey, Eric is a automotive & technology reporter covering the high-tech industry here in Silicon Valley. He has over 15 years of automotive experience and a bachelors degree in computer science. These skills, combined with technical writing and news reporting, allows him to fully understand and identify new and innovative technologies in the auto industry and beyond. He has worked at Uber on self-driving cars and as a technical writer, helping people to understand and work with technology.