Uber pushes Hertz Tesla deal to 150,000 cars
Less than a week after buying 100,000 Teslas – in what's believed to be the biggest electric-car rental order ever – Hertz said it will add another 50,000 vehicles as part of a new deal with Uber.
Ride-hailing giant Uber is going electric in the USA, with a huge new fleet of Tesla Model 3 cars.
Overnight, the California-based company – which has already pledged to phase out internal combustion vehicles entirely by 2040 – announced it was partnering with rental firm Hertz to order 50,000 zero-emission sedans. The cars will be delivered by 2023.
Last week Hertz independently announced it had placed its own order for 100,000 Tesla cars, set to be offered across all 50 states for private hire. At the time, Elon Musk claimed no fleet discount had been given, suggesting the deal was worth approximately $5 billion ($AU6.2 billion).
However, the latest joint order appears to be for an entirely new batch of vehicles, bringing the total number of fleet cars sold by Tesla to 150,000 in the past seven days. For reference, the manufacturer delivered approximately 500,000 in total throughout all of 2020.
Specific details for how the newest ride-hailing fleet will be operated – and who will drive the cars – is yet to be announced. More details are expected in the coming weeks.
"Climate change is an urgent global challenge we must all tackle together, and now is the time to drive a green recovery from the pandemic," said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
"This combines the power of Tesla, Hertz and Uber to help accelerate the transition to zero-emissions mobility. We look forward to seeing more electric vehicles on the road right away."
Currently, less than one per cent of vehicles registered to the Uber app worldwide are powered entirely by electricity. The company promises petrol and diesel cars will be entirely phased out from its ranks globally by 2040.