Polestar 2s Will Soon Join Hertz's Rental Fleets, a Big Upgrade From Nondescript Midsize Sedan
Image: Polestar
I’ll tell you something: Until about two weeks ago, when I landed in a Best Buy parking lot to purchase something I bought later that afternoon from an online retailer, I wasn’t entirely convinced Polestar actually manufactured cars for people to buy. Oh sure; you could drive them, if you were a journalist with the right connections (not that I have driven one). But I’d never actually seen a Polestar in the flesh, despite being repeatedly reminded they were definitely a real thing for two whole years prior.
Well, we can all get used to seeing more Polestars around, as the Volvo-spinoff EV maker says it’s started delivering cars to Hertz, kicking off the beginning of a 65,000-vehicle order that is scheduled to be completed by 2025.
This announcement came Thursday, and while the Swedish automaker isn’t saying how many of its Polestar 2 sedans-with-ground-clearance are in Hertz’s lots, the company is quick to remind us all in its press release that this marks “one of the largest single orders for electric cars ever made.” So too was that Tesla-Hertz deal, if you expand your definition of “largest single orders ever made” to include orders not made.
Something else that sticks out about this news: In the release, Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath is quoted as saying the company has delivered 55,000 cars across the 25 markets in which it plays. This order, then, is for 10,000 more Polestars than currently exist in the world.
As it happens, back in January, Ingenlath also confirmed to Automotive News that he’s looking to sell 65,000 cars, total, in 2022. How many of Hertz’s cars will count toward that annual goal? I suppose we’ll find out in Polestar’s year-end earnings report. The rental firm expects to start offering Polestars first in “Seattle, LA, Burbank and Orange County, CA, San Diego, Phoenix/Scottsdale, Miami, Islip, NY, and Newark, NJ,” according to our friends at Engadget.
G/O Media may get a commission
As part of the collaboration between the two companies, Hertz will also add some Polestar 1s to its fleet as well — surprising, because that car was discontinued last year. That’s neat!
I look forward to one day driving a Polestar; they look nice and, frankly, the ability to just rent one on a whim (stock notwithstanding) seems like a convenient way to test an electric car in your life before making the jump. I merely ask that Hertz rents out vehicles with color combinations beyond the gray-on-lighter-gray the brand seems to like so much.
