Some analysis from Alex on Autos:
"Yep, Hertz is selling 20,000 of their EVs. But "why" this is happening isn't as cut and dry as many headlines indicate. The two main factors for the reduction are: Hertz's ride sharing rental (Uber/Lyft) issues and associated repair costs, AND repair costs on regular consumer rentals and some amount of customer demand. Let's unpack one at a time.
The rideshare rental market is a big factor. Basically Hertz bought a bunch of Teslas in 2021 and 2022 and rented them to people driving for Uber and Lyft. As it turns out, Uber and Lyft drivers aren't the most careful folks out there especially when driving a car they don't own and they got damaged at a shockingly high rate.
Let's unpack that further. Hertz bought some $50,000-$60,000 luxury cars (Model 3 /Y were more expensive in 2021) that went 0-60 in 4.2-4.5 seconds and then got surprised by the high repair costs and higher damage rates. Putting this in perspective, that's like handing your friendly local Taxi driver the keys to a BMW M340i with full damage waivers and getting surprised when it gets wrapped around a telephone pole.
Fast forward to 2023/2024. Hertz realizes they "done screwed up" so they transfer these roughly treated Model 3/Ys to the regular rental fleet where *surprise* they aren't flying off the rental lots. (This is probably why the Model Y we rented recently was fu***d up). Now Hertz has decided to ditch around 1/3 of their EVs. And when we say EVs, we mean Teslas basically.
For some reason Hertz though the costs involved in renting 400+ horsepower EVs would be like renting a Dodge Dart. Lord knows why since renting a Hertz Shelby Mustang can't be the same as a Chevy Malibu.
Teslas may not offer "traditional luxury" virtues or features, but the reality is, they are a luxury car brand. The prices are comparable to the Germans luxury players, the cars are more or less size-segmented like the Germans, and importantly: insurance and repairs are more like a German luxury car than a Camry. This is lesson for someone shopping for a --luxury segment-- EV: Just because it's an EV doesn't mean *everything* about it will be cheaper. Charging and maintenance will generally be less than a gasoline car, but insurance and repairs will be substantially similar to an Audi, BMW or Mercedes. If you want more mainstream repair costs, get an EV from a volume car company like GM, Nissan, etc."