Hertz pumps brakes on EV uptake due to high repair cost

Rental car company Hertz has dropped the anchor on its transition to a fully electric vehicle (EV) fleet after realising just how pricey they are to repair in the event of a collision.

During its third-quarter earnings conference call late last week, Hertz CEO and Chairman Stephen Scherr said that EVs are having an impact on the company’s costs due to a number of different reasons.

While Scherr cited depreciation as one issue, he added that damage caused to an electric car in a collision cost much more to repair than a petrol- or diesel-powered equivalent.

“For context, collision and damage repairs on an EV can often run about twice that associated with a comparable combustion engine vehicle,” he said.

In addition, the CEO said that recent price cuts from electric carmakers like Tesla have also caused headaches at Hertz as vehicle write-offs now contribute to greater losses.

Nevertheless, the company says it’s still committed to electrifying its fleet, just at a slower pace than it previously anticipated.

“Our in-fleeting of EVs will be slower than our prior expectations,” added Scherr. “We know the challenges at hand and are working to remedy that, which we can.”

Looking ahead, the rental car firm believes its early adoption of EVs will be beneficial in the long run and expects the demand for EV rentals to increase in the near future.