Hertz agrees to buy 65,000 Polestars

Hertz believes its ideal customer is a willing EV user and one that wants something more exotic than your everyday Tesla.

So, on Tuesday, the rental company said it will buy 65,000 cars from Polestar as part of its latest electrification strategy.

You can actually still rent a Tesla from Hertz. The multinational company recently acquired 100,000 Teslas. Primarily the Model 3 but also a number of the Model Y SUV.

Polestar is rapidly growing worldwide, cementing itself as a somewhat affordable all-electric passenger car.

Hertz’s first orders will be for the Polestar 2. The car won NZ Autocar’s Car of the Year award in 2021, and you can read our road test review here.

Polestar is also set to unveil their 3 and 4 models in the next few years, likely joining Hertz’s future fleet.

The Swedish-based company is also in the works of adding a GT-esque sportscar to its lineup in the next few years. Dubbed the Polestar 5, the car will sway away from the brand’s roots of compact SUVs and challenge the likes of the Porsche Taycan.

Hertz’s Polestar lineup will begin its Australian rollout by the end of the year. We can only presume New Zealand might be a similar boat, but there is no official word if the cars are coming here. All we know is they are headed for “Europe, North America and Australia.”

Buying a big haul of Polestars is also indicative of a turn in fortunes for Hertz. The business filed for bankruptcy in 2020 as the pandemic grounded global travel to a halt.

Hertz, along with rival rental car firms, sold a large percentage of their fleet during the pandemic. They are only now beginning to reshow signs of growth.