Posted on 03/23/2024 9:10:43 AM PDT by george76
No one is talking about what is going to replace the Federal and State gas tax? You got it. A per mile charge as they track your every movement.
The ability of a seasoned executive or manager to accept mandated nonsense with enthusiasm while slow-walking it into oblivion is a beautiful thing to watch. It takes a very smart person to let something dumb ferment knee deep in group-think until it’s no longer popular.
The key issues with EVs are as follows.
The cost upfront is much higher.
Financing charges are higher.
They depreciate at a higher rate than internal combustion cars.
The insurance is more expensive, by at least 25 percent.
Repairs are much more expensive, if you can get them done at all, and take longer.
Tires are more expensive and don’t last as long because the car is so heavy.
Refueling is not easy and missteps here can have nightmarish consequences.
They are more likely to catch fire.
Any motor vehicle accident that impacts the battery can lead to repairs higher than the value of the car, that is totaled with so much as a scratch.
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Everything the government/leftist touch turns to sh*t!
The key issues with EVs are as follows.
The cost upfront is much higher.
Financing charges are higher.
They depreciate at a higher rate than internal combustion cars.
The insurance is more expensive, by at least 25 percent.
Repairs are much more expensive, if you can get them done at all, and take longer.
Tires are more expensive and don’t last as long because the car is so heavy.
Refueling is not easy and missteps here can have nightmarish consequences.
They are more likely to catch fire.
Any motor vehicle accident that impacts the battery can lead to repairs higher than the value of the car, that is totaled with so much as a scratch.
_________________________________________________
Everything the government/leftist touch turns to sh*t!
When I was in NM, one of our vendors paid a visit, and one of the two guys was from Scotland and he wanted to see the western US.
They had a rented car a did a 2500 mile loop over 3 days.
“... they are fine for urban commutes with home chargers...”
Electric Golf Carts have performed well for decades.
They already are.
In order to satisfy the ridiculous CAFE requirements, they bought out all the golf card producers and declared the golf cards EV’s.
Once, there were adds for a free golf card. With all the subsidies and EV requirements, a simple golf card could be sold for free!
But it is not enough any more. The EPA requirements have been raised several times, so car manufacturers are forced into EV’s with disastrous results.
The stupid woke policies of corporate DEI really Hertz the bottom line, soto speak.
Corporate America decided to pursue the political favor of the global wannabe feudal lord Leftazis rather than customer favor. The venture into Woke lunacy has borne a putrid fruit when it slammed into bitter reality. It would be funny if not so pathetic and harmful to a lotta good folks who are just trying to make a living.
Yes, the large stock of electric cars, particularly Tesla vehicles, contributed to Hertz’s financial challenges and decision to sell off a significant portion of its electric fleet. The high costs associated with collision and damage repairs, as well as the rapid depreciation of electric vehicles (EVs) due to price declines in the new car market, led to a substantial loss for Hertz. The company faced difficulties with repair costs, depreciation, and lower resale values for its used EV rental cars, ultimately impacting its profitability. Additionally, the dominance of Tesla in Hertz’s EV fleet played a significant role in these challenges, with Tesla vehicles making up about 80% of Hertz’s EVs and being a major factor in the decision to reduce the electric fleet
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The issue with the Deep State / Uniparty is they only care about what they want. What normal people want is not only not considered, they could not care less about it.
With EVs, the Deep State / Unipaty has passed their “rule” and they truly believe that they can just wait us out. So what if we don’t buy their mandated EVs? The rules are in place and they have no interest in changing them. There next move will likely be a combination of: mandate the disuse of older vehicles, restrict the availability of gasoline, ration the amount of gasoline individuals can purchase, greatly increase gasoline / diesel taxes.
All of the moves will be to force the disuse of personal transportation. Therefore, choices in the 2030s will quickly boil down to discontinue use of personal motorized transportation and therefore be forced to move to an urban location or pay up for a useless EV and try to continue living outside of urban centers but with sharply limited transportation.
Once gasoline and diesel are generally unavailable, the long knives will be out for the toxic and environmentally highly dirty EVs. That will be done to try and force the remaining holdouts off their land and into the urban free fire zones.
It’s not Hertz’s fault that their customer base rebels against change.
(pretty much what the EV types think)
Was it Woody Allen who said, "I took a speed reading course and read War and Peace in two hours. It was about Russia."
Think about the size of the electrical substation that would be required in the rental co’s back lots to get ready for the morning rush.
When politics overrules market forces, disaster is sure to follow.
Politicians have abdicated their duty of oversight on regulatory agencies. Politicians today have little on their agenda other than make the other side look bad and keep their seat. How about you twits doing something useful for the American public instead of those things designed to get you reelected?
I read the comments, and none mentioned the aside the author said, comparing the EV hysteria to the mRNA hysteria. In both the government is way behind where the rest of us are.
I’m thinking the car-rental business should be a major cash spinner. Only a truly arrogant and stupid CEO could screw it up.
they have key, irreplaceable real-estate at airports and such
they can mass buy cheap, standardized cars, probably on very good terms. When cars are not needed (as we saw in Covid) they can easily liquidate basic models
enterprise management operating software is highly standardized
Every customer must guarantee payment with credit card - no credit risk
they can flex to enormous fees during high-demand periods
they can add in all kinds of hidden charges, like airlines do
Americans increasingly can’t afford to own, so they rent instead. From Airbnb to car-shares, the “lease economy” is real thing
Hertz Stephen Scherr has found a nice corner office at Ford.
Great term for them although I think of them as ego-tards.
Hopefully this puts other CEO’s on notice. Be more careful.
This decision was made during the high of ‘everyone is going EV’ mentality - the automakers were moving their strategies to EV’s, Tesla was riding high, etc..
Then it all fell off a cliff. None of them considered their customers. For Hertz, it’s particularly baffling. A car rental is very simple for the customer, I want to pick one up like fast food - as fast and painless as possible, a good experience, and done when I need. Keeping the vehicle going needs to be also as painless as possible. I don’t care about it. It’s temporary. Now you’ve made it a hassle, I’ll go with somebody else.
The automakers saw the success Tesla was having and tried to follow. Except they also didn’t stop to understand the customer base. Many Tesla customers are feel-good liberals that think they’re saving the planet, have well-paying jobs, and consider it ‘status’. There’s only so many of them. The average Joe doesn’t care less, they don’t want the hassle. Give them a reliable fuel efficient vehicle (because gas is expensive) and they’re happy. When gas is cheap they’ll buy muscle cars - and be happier.
Dictating to your customers is never a good idea. It’s also another great example of government interference in the market, centralized decision making (aka dictating).
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