The Big Take
Why Hertz’s Big Bet on EVs Didn’t Work
Two Wall Street investors bought Hertz with ambitious hopes of revamping the rental car industry. But their big bet on electric vehicle rentals didn’t go as planned.
A Hertz rental car location in Berkeley, California, US, on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
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When Wall Street investors Tom Wagner and Greg O’Hara took over Hertz, they had ambitious plans. They aimed to revolutionize the car rental business by bringing a record number of electric vehicles into Hertz’s fleet, including 100,000 Teslas. And when Hertz’s IPO launched in 2021, it seemed Wagner and O’Hara had just made a visionary deal.