Hertz Australia Is Adding a Bunch of Polestar 2 EVs to Its Fleet of Rentals

Hertz Australia Is Adding a Bunch of Polestar 2 EVs to Its Fleet of Rentals

International car hire company Hertz has announced that it will buy up to 65,000 electric vehicles from Polestar over five years, adding the EV to its Australian fleet.

Polestar is the electric vehicle division of Volvo, which recently launched its first vehicle in Australia (we really dug it).

Now Hertz has announced that it’ll be buying tens of thousands of Polestar vehicles over the next five years for its global fleets. The news comes some months after it was announced that Hertz would be adding 100,000 Teslas to its European, North American and Australian fleets.

Interestingly, availability for Polestar vehicles through Hertz is expected to begin in Europe during Spring (so the middle of the year), but Aussies and North Americans will be able to hire out a Polestar vehicle in late 2022. Gizmodo Australia has reached out to Hertz Australia for comment.

“We are excited to partner with Polestar and look forward to introducing their premium EV products into our retail and rideshare fleets,” says Stephen Scherr, the CEO of Hertz.

“Today’s partnership with Polestar further builds on our ambition to become a leading participant in the modern mobility ecosystem and doing so as an environmentally-forward company. By working with EV industry leaders like Polestar, we can help accelerate the adoption of electrification while providing renters, corporate customers and rideshare partners a premium EV product, exceptional experience and lower carbon footprint.”

Hertz is initially ordering the Polestar 2, the most recent release from Volvo’s electric vehicle division. That makes sense, considering the only other vehicle in the Polestar fleet is the Polestar 1, a hybrid that costs upwards of $100,000 and isn’t available in many markets.

The Polestar 2 exists to compete directly with the Tesla Model 3, which was reportedly the most popular electric vehicle in the Australian market last year.

At a similar price point with a similar battery range and specs, it’s a decent alternative to consider, powered by Android Automotive OS with Google built-in.

“Polestar is committed to accelerating the move to electric mobility with a fascinating and innovative product portfolio,” says Thomas Ingenlath, the CEO of Polestar.

“We are delighted that Hertz has chosen Polestar as a strategic partner on their road to electrification. The partnership with a global pioneer like Hertz will bring the amazing experience of driving an electric car to a wider audience, satisfying a broad variety of our mutual customers’ short — and longer — term mobility requirements. For many of them, it may be the first time they have driven an EV, and it will be a Polestar.”

So, you’ll soon able to hire a Polestar through Hertz, we love to see it.


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