Hertz says it is moving to expand its EV rental offerings and has done so by adding Tesla Model Ys to its rental lineup, Electrek reports. However, if you’re looking to rent any of these Tesla offerings, good luck.
Hertz adding the Model Y to its rental fleet is surprising after the drama that surrounded the initial announcement. If you don’t remember: Hertz announced it was purchasing 100,000 Model 3’s from Tesla to grow its EV fleet.
Following that announcement, both Hertz and Tesla’s stock prices shot up of course, with Tesla hitting a $1 trillion valuation for the first time. But then a strange thing happened. Elon Musk said “not so fast,” pointing out there wasn’t any sort of deal between the companies.
Musk essentially says the company’s cars are in high demand so Hertz shouldn’t expect a discount. Ok. So, Hertz went on parading its EVs, even hiring Tom Brady to be the face of its marketing campaign.
It’s not known how Hertz was able to get so many cars, so fast, but the rental company has been taking deliveries of the Model 3 since the announcement. Now comes the Model Y, even though it still isn’t clear how many the company is purchasing or its charging plans.
Currently, Teslas are only available for rent through select locations in California, Georgia, Florida and D.C. I browsed my local Hertz location in California, which has two lots full of Model 3s, and no chargers. And even though lots are full, my check of available dates for a Modely 3 or Y came up empty.
A company spokesperson confirmed with Yahoo Finance that the Model Y would be available in April with more info to come after that.
The Model Ys will be available for rent in late April in select markets where EVs are available. More information on rental locations can be found on our website: hertz.com/ev. Additional information on the Model Ys will be promoted in the coming weeks.
I continued playing with dates until the end of the year and found nothing was available, not even the Model 3. So either the demand for Teslas have spilled over into the rental world and people who would never have been able to get their hands on one have booked them up, or Hertz just hasn’t made the vehicles available for renting, even though as you can see, they are up on the site. Or maybe, it’s another part to the stock-gaining puzzle we’ll all have to watch play out, again.