Hertz Will Spend $4.2 Billion to Buy 100,000 Teslas, Hires Tom Brady to Help Rent Them

It is in this context that Bloomberg said Hertz is planning to buy 100,000 Tesla vehicles in the next 14 months, a $4.2-billion deal. It even hired Tom Brady to help it rent these new Teslas.

For the ones asking where these rented EVs will be recharged, the answer is simple: the deal would allow them to use Tesla’s Supercharging network. Hertz would also be planning to create its own charging network to make things easier for its clients. That’s kind of surprising when you think that Hertz went into bankruptcy in May 2020 and just got back on its feet.

Another interesting element is that Hertz is now run by Mark Fields, a former Ford CEO. The company could have ordered a fleet of Mustang Mach-E units and F-150 Lightning, but it may eventually do that. Hertz would be planning to electrify its entire fleet, currently composed of around 500,000 vehicles.

The deal was officially confirmed by Hertz in a press release stating it hired Tom Brady. Considering these vehicles will be in U.S. and European cities, part of them will undoubtedly come from Giga Shanghai.

In the American market, Tesla has been increasing prices and delaying deliveries. That makes the 14-month deadline for the delivery of so many vehicles seem really difficult for Fremont. In other words, it suggests most of them will come from the Chinese plant.

Giga Austin could be a candidate to deliver part of these cars if it was ready soon, but it has other complications. The first was that it was conceived to produce automobiles with a structural battery pack and mega castings. This battery pack was based around the 4680 cells, which Tesla is yet to develop and put into production.

A possibility for these cars to come from Austin would be the BYD Blade Battery, which is structural. That would demand the deal between Tesla and BYD for 10 GWh per year in LFP cells to be confirmed. It may soon be the case with such a massive client like Hertz waiting for its cars.