American car rental company Hertz made a big bet on electric vehicles in 2021, buying up 100,000 Tesla Model 3s for $4.2 billion, along with other EVs. That bet has not paid off for the company, but it could still pay off big for potential EV customers, as Hertz has now become a premier reseller of used EVs, Fortune reported.
By looking through Hertz's website in June, shoppers could find a Tesla 2022 or 2023 model for as low as $19,500, as well as a 2023 Chevy Bolt SUV for under $17,000, among others. These prices are excellent deals for the United States' EV market, especially since one of the reasons Hertz is selling off these cars is that they had trouble renting them out at the prices they expected, as reported by Forbes. This means many of the vehicles are only slightly used.
Some of the vehicles for sale will even qualify for up to $4,000 in federal tax credit for used EVs, making them even cheaper (though it's important to check IRS updates and information carefully on which models qualify).
Hertz is mostly blaming Tesla for its missteps here. The rental company said that Tesla's price cuts in 2023 undercut its own business plan around the cars by hurting their resale value and that the EVs could be twice as expensive for collision repairs as their traditional gas-powered rental cars.
As The Drive pointed out, this sequence of events has inadvertently resulted in the fabled $25,000 Tesla finally coming to fruition (in a way). Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long hinted at — and, at times, outright promised — a $25,000 model, but by all appearances he has shifted the company's focus on that project to other things, as Electrek reported on earlier this year.
While some might criticize the company for building arguably the world's least attractive truck, Tesla has also worked toward developing a more affordable battery cell and sparked intrigue with an updated water-resistant version of the Powerwall home energy storage system.
Both Hertz and Tesla have seemingly done some bumbling here, but the end result could be great news for an American carbuyer looking to take the plunge into EV ownership.
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Electric vehicles create significantly less planet-overheating air pollution than traditional gas-powered cars, and could save you considerable money on gas and maintenance in the long run. And now that EV prices are dropping, that long run isn't all that long at all.
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