Hertz found a new way to get rid of its Tesla Model 3

Electric cars continue to take more and more space on the market. It must be said that in addition to the financial incentives put in place in certain countries, this engine also has solid arguments, particularly with regard to pollution. Not to mention the comfort and maintenance costs.

A new strategy

Indeed, and despite the increase in the price of electricity, driving an electric car also remains more interesting. However, everything is not rosy either, quite the contrary. And if a recent study proved that the vast majority of electric car owners did not want to return to thermal, there are still some nuances. And for that, you have to go to Hertz. The rental company had purchased many cars of this type, especially in 2022.

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In addition to Teslas, the firm had also placed orders for no less than 65,000 Polestar 2s. But from the start of 2023, it finally began to massively resell these electric cars, literally selling them off. And this is still continuing at the end of 2024, but there are still many vehicles in the company's fleet, including she is trying to get rid of. For this, she has just found a new idea, as explained by the American site Carscoops.

From now on, customers who have rented a Tesla Model 3 for a short period are offered the possibility to buy the car at the end of their contract. Almost like an LOA, but over a very short term. This information comes to us from an Internet user who shared on Reddit an e-mail received from Hertz, offering to repurchase the vehicle for only $17,913. Which corresponds to approximately 17,228 euros according to the current exchange rate.

Obviously, we say to ourselves that there is a wolf. And yet, the driver reports that the car only had 30,000 miles on the odometer, i.e. approximately 48,000 kilometers. Which is almost nothing, especially when you know the longevity of the batteries of the American brand's vehicles. Suffice to say, this seems like the real deal. However, Carscoops indicates that other offers have also been received for cars displaying more than 200,000 kilometers on the clockagain for less than $20,000.

Get rid of it as quickly as possible

But why does Hertz want to do everything to get rid of its electric cars? A strategy that may seem surprising, given that the American rental company was banking heavily on this engine. In fact, it turns out that several aspects raise some concerns, and prompted the company to make this decision. First of all, the strong depreciation of these cars on resalewhich explains why the firm decided to part ways prematurely. The goal? Avoid waiting to lose too much money.

In general, rental companies make good money from reselling their cars, which are often almost new. However, this is not the case with electric. And that's not all, because maintenance costs would also be too high. Which may seem surprising, because it's usually the other way around. Indeed, we know that repairing an electric vehicle is often cheaper, or barely 2% more expensive. Except at Tesla. It is then necessary to count on average $5,552compared to 4,474 for any other brand.

Accidents are common with rental cars, and Hertz wants to avoid losing more money than it makes because of them. Especially since another point remains problematic. In the event of a collision, an electric car is more likely to be scrapped, because it is impossible to check the condition of the battery on certain models. This is also the case at Tesla, since the cells are glued directly to the frame. And inevitably, an irreparable vehicle is also a real loss of income for the company, not to mention the cost of buying one.