Car rental company, Hertz on Monday, October 25, 2021 announced its intention to purchase 1000,000 electric vehicles from manufacturing company, Tesla, in what could be adjudged one of the biggest battery-powered cars in global history.
The news of the deal incited a hike in Tesla’s stock; shooting up the carmaker’s market value to over $1 trillion, in a mouth-watering purchase may yet be the latest evidence of the world’s increasing shift in commitment to EV technology.
The purchase by Hertz is an indication that the car rental company has seen the continuous global acceptance of electric vehicles, with consumers seeing the environmental EV cars as a better alternative to petroleum-burning internal combustion engines.
Hertz interim CEO, Mr. Mark Fields in an interview with The Associated Press (AP) averred that Tesla-made EV vehicles are already arriving Hertz Company’s sites, with the vehicles available for rentals beginning from November.
In its announcement, Hertz said the company will round out the purchases of the Tesla Model 3 small cars by the end of next year, adding that it plans to build its own electric vehicle charging network, in its avowed move to producing the largest rental fleet of electric vehicles in North America.
Although Hertz CEO fell short of revealing the exact amount Hertz would be spending on the order noted that the company has sufficient capital and a healthy balance sheet, after leaving the bankruptcy protection in June.
But there are ‘insinuational’ calculations that the purchase would be worth around $4 billion as each Tesla Model 3 has about $40,000 base price, with the deal also ranking top of the list of vehicle orders by a single company.
The order vastly improved Tesla’s shares as it soared to nearly 13 percent to a $1,024.86 closing price, effectively pushing the automaker’s value to over $1 trillion, with Forbes disclosing that the wealth of Tesla’s CEO grew to 11.4 percent, cementing his place as the richest man in the world with $255.8 billion.
Hertz Chief Executive, Mark Fields affirmed his belief that electric vehicles are progressively moving to the mainstream, with his company’s intent to become a leading EV rental provider to the teeming populace. He noted that different surveys over the past five years have shown the sporadic growth of consumer’s interest in electric vehicles.
“More are willing to try and buy,” he said. “It’s pretty stunning.”
According to Fields, the Florida-based brand is in discussions with other automakers on buying additional electric vehicles as the company moves to expand its EV fleet to accommodate other models entering the marketplace.
With Hertz announcing its plans to build its charging network, Field intimated of the company’s plans to have 3,000 chargers in 65 locations across the United States by the end of 2021 and 4,000 chargers by the end of 2022, with many of the Hertz charging sites situated in high-brow urban places like the Airport, while others will be located in suburban areas.
He further added that the teeming Hertz customers would be able to use Tesla’s own charging points for a set fee, with Tesla already having a 25,000 charging points globally.
Ayoola Faseyi, an Abuja based Journalist with interest in Technology and Politics. He is a versatile writer with articles in many renowned News Journals.He is the Co-Founder of media brand, The Vent Republic.
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