Following the announcement of Hertz’s $4.2 billion USD plans to purchase 100,000 Tesla vehicles, some sources noted recently that the two companies are still struggling to specify the timing details of the deal.
The exact timing of Tesla’s delivery of Hertz’s newly-purchased Teslas is still being negotiated, according to sources familiar with the subject as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Hertz initially said that the order of 100,000 Teslas would take until the end of 2022 to be fulfilled, though even that has been called into question in recent weeks.
According to unnamed sources, the Hertz announcement surprised some Tesla officials, specifically the delivery timeline fulfillment mentioned by the rental company. Another source said the Hertz press release was shared with Tesla. The original Hertz announcement did not include a statement from Elon Musk’s company.
Sources also note both Hertz and Tesla “haggled for months” over the number of vehicles the automaker could supply. Tesla is not the only EV company Hertz is looking to buy from, says sources. Also, Musk was not deeply involved in the Hertz talks, says one source.
Hertz-Tesla Deal with Uber May Expand Up to 150,000 Cars, Says CEO https://t.co/22dkY8InnB
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) October 28, 2021
In a statement, Hertz said, “As we announced last week, Hertz has made an initial order of 100,000 Tesla electric vehicles and is investing in new EV charging infrastructure across the company’s global operations.” Hertz continued, “Deliveries of the Teslas already have started.”
Earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk pointed out that no contract had yet been signed with Hertz, emphasizing that the company’s demand is higher than production, so Hertz will be subject to the same price margin as customers.
Hertz customers can already begin renting a Tesla Model 3, and Hertz responded to Musk’s statements by standing by its former announcements. While the financial terms of the deal haven’t yet been set, Musk also pointed out that Hertz will pay the full price on the Tesla vehicles.
