Hertz last week officially opened rental car bookings for its new fleet of Polestar 2 electric vehicles in Australia, with the Swedish-engineered EV joining the Tesla Model 3 as the second all-electric option offered by the rent-a-car firm locally.
While Hertz is not the first to add electric vehicles to its fleet, the growing number of EVs available to rent provides greater access to the new technology which for many Australian buyers is simply too expensive or too inconvenient for their current situation.
Hertz has recently added a fleet of Polestar 2s in Australia
Eoin MacNeill, vice president of Hertz Asia-Pacific, told Chasing Cars that the agency was looking to build a fleet consisting of a broad spectrum of electric vehicles to rent in Australia and had a keen interest in the upcoming Polestar 3 SUV.
“Hertz has never said that this is a single or a dual vehicle supply and will basically buy what the customer wants,” MacNeill said.
“And I think as Japanese, Korean, European and US manufacturers start to make better and more available vehicles then Hertz will buy those and make them available to our customers.”
Vice President of Hertz Asia-Pacific Eoin MacNeill said they are looking to adopt a broad variety of vehicles
Hertz last year inked a deal to purchase over 65,000 Polestar vehicles worldwide, and high on the priority list is the incoming Polestar 3, the budding EV brand’s first SUV model.
“We’re pretty excited about the [Polestar] 3. It’s going to be an exciting vehicle for Australia,” he said, adding “we’re definitely keen to get an allocation of those and showcase them”.
MacNeill stressed that the plans had yet to be finalised but added “definitely an SUV is probably the next one for our books”.
Tesla Model Y SUV a possibility, but not a priority
So with SUVs deemed the next big priority, and the Model Y already on sale in the Australian market while the Polestar 3 is yet to be officially unveiled, why not the Tesla?
In the months leading up to Hertz deal with Polestar, the US rental company announced that it would be purchasing 100,000 Model 3s that it be distributed globally, though Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk stated later that week that it was far from a done deal.
The Polestar 3, which is yet to be fully unveiled, is a likely option for Hertz
Nevertheless, some 350 Model 3s were promised for the Australian market and many of which have yet to arrive, creating a backlog that could be a key obstacle for the Model Y’s introduction for hopeful renters.
“We haven’t looked at Model Ys yet, we’re focused on the Model 3s at the moment. And if we can’t get [Polestar] 3s, then we probably won’t start adding more demand to it,” MacNeill said.
Model 3s here but there’s “not enough”
Hertz has repeatedly dodged questions on how many Model 3s are in the country though it confirmed there are currently units available for rent at Canberra and Adelaide airports.
“I can’t actually say [how many there are], because we’re still in discussions with Tesla in terms of supply but there’s not enough,” MacNeill said.
“There have obviously been some supply chain issues out of China. I think everyone’s aware of that. So yeah, we’d definitely take more Tesla’s if we could”.
It’s unclear how many Model 3s are in the country but Hertz says there’s “not enough”
So far, Tesla has delivered 4657 Model 3s to Australia in 2022 but with customer demand so high, it may be difficult to justify fleet sales.
Ultimately however the number of electric vehicles available in Australia will be dictated by the demand from the customer which remains to be seen in the coming months.
“If the demand’s not there, then obviously, they’re not a great value proposition for us but we certainly think the demand’s there and we’re pretty confident,” MacNeill said
