...some longtime Hertz managers who’d experienced the ups and downs of used-car prices over the years warned against making such a huge wager on Teslas. They knew betting wrong on which models to buy is a profit killer for rental companies, which rely on strong returns when they eventually sell cars into the used-vehicle market... it was clear the massive bet on EVs was a catastrophe. Musk had slashed Tesla prices by as much as 30%, sending the value of Hertz’s EVs plummeting.
Unlike EV owners comfortable with charging at home and on the road, business travelers and vacationers suffered from range anxiety and didn’t want the hassle. ...At the end of the night that’s all we had left, so they’d go to Avis.”
...While Hertz had installed its own charging network as part of the electrification push, some older airports, such as New Jersey’s Newark, don’t get enough power from the electricity grid or lack the infrastructure to support the number of chargers Hertz needed to get EVs back on the road quickly. Once a Tesla was returned, Hertz employees often had to drive them for miles to find a Supercharger, adding expense
...Unlike major automakers, Tesla doesn’t have an extensive network of franchised dealers to help with service and repair, leaving owners subject to the company’s availability and schedule. Some of Hertz’s Teslas were idled for extended periods.
...When Hertz was able to get its Teslas fixed, repairs were expensive. An Autopilot radar assembly can cost $1,500 to replace and as much as $3,000 to calibrate. Many Teslas had to be junked altogether, because a crash could result in a permanent misalignment of the body panels, or because the risk of battery damage made them uninsurable. That, combined with the higher rate of accidents than on Hertz’s other vehicles, led to a spike in repair bills.
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