Hertz has announced that it plans to sell 20,000 of its electric cars (EV) – one-third of its EV fleet – and purchase more gas-powered cars.
The move comes as ConsumerAffairs recently reported that some customers have complained that they were given EVs when they specifically requested a gas-powered vehicle, suggesting the rental car company overestimated consumer enthusiasm for EVs.
However, there are still consumers who would like to buy an EV if the price were right. With Hertz dumping 20,000 cars into the used car market, the price of EVs, which had already been falling, might fall even lower. But Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iSeeCars.com, says you should move quickly.
‘Short-term impact’
“The Hertz EV dump will certainly have a short-term impact, but the used EV market is large enough it won’t have a long-term effect on prices,” Brauer told ConsumerAffairs. “Used EV prices have fallen dramatically in the past year, so while Hertz’s move will further add to their decline, it will actually be hard to know exactly how much Hertz contributes to the average EV’s used price drop.”
Hertz executives say the expansion of its EV fleet has been hard on the company’s bottom line. They point out that EVs depreciate faster and repairs are more costly. Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr recently told analysts that damage repairs on an EV can be twice as costly as those on a comparable gasoline-powered vehicle.
Rental car companies that sell vehicles in their fleet usually do so at auction, so it could take a few months for the Hertz EVs to make it to used car lots.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2024-01-15 11:54:36
