In yet another blow to the Biden administration’s attempts to force a “green” energy “transition” as part of the president’s crusade to “end” fossil fuels, the Hertz rental car company has announced that it’s abandoning its electric vehicles and pivoting back to gasoline-powered cars.
On Thursday, Hertz said it was selling off 20,000 of its electric vehicles —roughly one-third of its EV fleet — and will replace them with gas-powered vehicles in its for-rent fleet.
As Axios reported, the company cited the high cost of repairing its EVs as part of its decision to pivot back to good ol’ gasoline vehicles.
As Axios’ report reminded, “[t]he move marks an abrupt reversal by Hertz, which in 2022 announced plans to buy 165,000 EVs from Tesla and Volvo unit Polestar” and said the move means “a $245 million loss” for Hertz.
In 2023, Hertz boasted that it was being recognized by the Biden administration for its “efforts to expand access to electric vehicles across the country,” claiming demand for EV rentals was “growing.”
This morning, @Hertz was recognized by The White House for our efforts to expand access to electric vehicles across the country. Demand for EV rentals is growing and we’re here to help our customers electrify their travels. #HertzLetsGo #HertzEV https://t.co/rLJa0lmHG8
— Hertz (@Hertz) March 30, 2023
In a report on the decision, Reuters noted that Hertz’s pivot away from plug-ins is “another sign that EV demand has cooled,” undercutting the company’s plan to have a quarter of its fleet made up of electric vehicles.
Hertz, however, is hardly the first major company to end up with buyer’s remorse for launching into EVs. As Townhall reported in December, Ford dealt a blow to Biden’s energy “transition” pipe dream when it announced that it was “cutting planned production of its all-electric F-150 ‘Lightning’ pickup truck ‘roughly in half’ in 2024” amid “billion-dollar losses, inflated costs, high interest rates, and lagging demand” for EVs.
Much like Hertz, the pivot by Ford was “a major reversal after the automaker significantly increased plant capacity for the electric vehicle in 2023,” said CNBC.
When we can truly “light up our walkways” with solar lights and Highways are once again illuminated perhaps with Solar Lamps, then we’ll be moving in the right direction. Growing up all highways were illuminated. IF Solar Power was SO good, why don’t we even have Street Lights that are recharged by the sun? We’re in Florida for God’s sake?! We have not advanced as much as they think NOR is climate change real
I hope Elon Musk can switch gears and put ALL of his technology & other gadgets and advances into gas-powered vehicles and give us Old Folks a “Kit Kar” that David Hasselhoff drove from Night Ryder with all the bells & whistles I’d be thrilled and if my Solar Lights that line my walkway would at least shine lights until Midnight, more than 3 hours, after being “charged” in the Florida sun all day – every day!
The Biden admin has just announced that it will hand out 1 billion dollars of our tax money to subsidize electric school buses. Biden can’t spend our tax money fast enough to put us further in debt and waste our taxes.
Hertz, kindly consider donating a used EV to me so I can visit WhistlinDiesel and see what hijinks we can get into with it.
Promise to send an uncut, unedited video to you.