Hertz and BP plan to build a network of thousands of electric vehicle chargers in North America, the companies said Tuesday.
Over the past year, the rental car behemoth has announced its intention to purchase hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles from various automakers. It has said that it aims for 25% of its fleet to be electric by 2025.
The new stations will be used for Hertz’s growing fleet of electric vehicles and will also be open to the public. Hertz already has 1,600 chargers in 65 nations worldwide. Hertz previously had worked with Amply Power, which BP acquired in December 2021 and rebranded as BP Pulse, to build chargers at 25 Hertz locations this year. The first new site is expected to go live next year. They have not announced exactly how many charges will be built.
Hertz may apply for some of the $7.5 billion in federal funding being made available for electric vehicle charging, according to spokesman Jonathan Stern. Hertz expects that many of its locations, particularly in underserved areas will qualify for some government backing, but the company is still analyzing possibilities, Stern said.
Financial terms of the partnership have not been released. Hertz and BP Pulse say they signed a memorandum of understanding that will acceleration consumer adoption of electric vehicles. BP has said before that it wants to build 100,000 chargers worldwide by 2030.
Electric vehicles have accounted for roughly 5% of vehicles sold in the United States in the first half of this year, according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents large automakers.
More than 25,000 Uber drivers have rented Teslas from Hertz and driven 5 million miles, according to company.
It first announced last October that it would buy 100,000 Teslas. Then in April it said it would purchase up to 65,000 electric vehicles over the next five years from Volvo spin-off Polestar. Last week Hertz said it would buy up to 175,000 electric vehicles over the next five years from General Motors.
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