As Hertz offloads EVs, the Biden admin announces fresh plans to fund EV charging

The future may be electric, but for now Hertz is reining in its EV transition.

The rental car company last week revealed plans to offload 20,000 EVs, or about one-third of its global electric fleet, from its US inventory.

The company said in a regulatory filing that it plans to sell the vehicles, which are primarily Teslas, “over the course of 2024.” Hertz plans to use some of the proceeds to buy internal combustion engine vehicles “to meet customer demand.”

The move marks a major shift for Hertz after the company said in 2021 that it would buy 100,000 Teslas, Bloomberg reported. In an interview with the outlet, Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr cited “elevated costs associated with EVs.”

Now, Hertz is advertising used Teslas on its website for as low as $20,000, Business Insider reported.

Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmunds, told Tech Brew it might simply be too early for rental companies to push EVs onto customers, given anxieties about range and charging availability, as well as many consumers’ unfamiliarity with plug-in cars.

“EVs are tough for a short-term or rental time period because without having a home-based charger, it becomes very stressful to figure out where to charge, and then also trying to find a fast charger,” she said. “So if you’re somebody who’s not as familiar with how an EV works…you’re probably not that happy.”

Caldwell herself has rented EVs and found that the rental company didn’t provide any instruction on how the driving experience differs from an ICE vehicle or how to charge the car.

Speaking of charging: Some $623 million in federal grant money is headed to state, local, and tribal governments as part of the Biden administration’s ongoing push to build out the nation’s EV charging infrastructure.

The administration is on a mission to establish a national network of at least 500,000 publicly available chargers by 2030, backed by $7.5 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support the construction of EV charging stations.

The grants will pay for 47 EV charging and alternative-fueling programs in 22 states and Puerto Rico, according to the Department of Transportation, including 7,500 new charging ports.

“This funding will help ensure that EV chargers are accessible, reliable, and convenient for American drivers, while creating jobs in charger manufacturing, installation, and maintenance for American workers,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.

The Federal Highway Administration has awarded $311 million to 36 “community projects” that support “EV charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure in urban and rural communities,” per the DOT, at locations like schools, libraries, and parks. One grant, for example, gives $15 million to California’s Contra Costa County to add chargers at 15 branches of the library system.

Other funding will support projects that “fill gaps in the core national charging and alternative-fueling network,” the DOT said; more than 70% of the grant funding will support projects in disadvantaged communities.