Hertz to purchase 65,000 Polestar 2 EVs

Swedish premium electric performance carmaker Polestar recently announced a new global partnership with Hertz Corp. to sell 65,000 electric vehicles to the global car rental company over the next five years, with availability to begin in spring 2022 in Europe and later in the year for North America and Australia.

"We are excited to partner with Polestar and look forward to introducing their premium EV products into our retail and rideshare fleets," said Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr. "Today's partnership with Polestar further builds on our ambition to become a leading participant in the modern mobility ecosystem and doing so as an environmentally-friendly company."

For Hertz, the partnership is part of the company's ongoing commitment to lead in electrification, shared mobility and a digital-first customer experience. The partnership with Polestar intends to build on Hertz's announcement last October to offer its customers the largest EV rental fleet in North America and one of the largest in the world.

At that time, Hertz put in an order of 100,000 Tesla EVs and rolled out plans to invest in new charging infrastructure across its global operations.

In addition to offering electrified models to its business and leisure customers, Hertz is extending EVs to rideshare drivers as a way to further accelerate electrification.

"By working with EV industry leaders like Polestar, we can help accelerate the adoption of electrification while providing renters, corporate customers and rideshare partners a premium EV product, exceptional experience and lower carbon footprint," added Scherr.

Polestar – a Swedish automotive brand established in 1996 by Volvo Cars' partner Flash/Polestar Racing and acquired by Volvo in 2015 –has the means to be one of the drivers of global EV growth and to help accelerate the shift to sustainable mobility. With Volvo now part of Chinese automotive conglomerate Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd., more commonly known as Geely, the supply chain to develop EVs is certainly in its favor.

Reporting a nearly tripled volume in 2021 and anticipating more than double volumes for 2022, Polestar expects to reach 290,000 vehicles per year by the end of 2025.

"Polestar is committed to accelerating the move to electric mobility with a fascinating and innovative product portfolio," said Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath. "We are delighted that Hertz has chosen Polestar as a strategic partner on board their road to electrification."

Hertz will initially order Polestar 2, the second generation of the award-winning EV that established Polestar's position as a premium electric vehicle manufacturer.

"The partnership with a global pioneer like Hertz will bring the amazing experience of driving an electric car to a wider audience, satisfying a broad variety of our mutual customer's short- and longer-term mobility requirements," continued Ingenlath. "For many of them it may be the first time they have driven an EV, and it will be a Polestar."