American car rental company Hertz is set to bulk-buy up to 65,000 electric vehicles from Swedish EV manufacturer Polestar over the next five years. The car rental firm will make the Polestar EVs available starting this Spring in Europe, followed by North American and Australian market debut later in 2022.

Hertz aims to become the largest electric-vehicle rental fleet provider in North America and has one of the largest EV fleets in the world. Besides this, the company intends to extend its EV services to rideshare drivers, apart from businesses and leisure customers. Meanwhile, a statement released by Polestar states that this is a global partnership to accelerate electric vehicle adoption.

Meanwhile, as a part of this agreement, Polestar will initially be supplying the Polestar 2 to Hertz. The Polestar 2 is available in three trims – standard range single motor, long-range single motor, and long-range dual motor with a range (WLTP certified) of 474km, 542km, and 482km, respectively.

Speaking on the partnership announcement, Thomas Ingenlath, CEO, Polestar, said, “We are delighted that Hertz has chosen Polestar as a strategic partner on their road to electrification. The partnership with a global pioneer like Hertz will bring the amazing experience of driving an electric car to a wider audience, satisfying a broad variety of our mutual customers' short- and longer-term mobility requirements. For many of them it may be the first time they have driven an EV, and it will be a Polestar.”

Commenting on the occasion, Stephen Scherr, CEO, Hertz, said, “We are excited to partner with Polestar and look forward to introducing their premium EV products into our retail and rideshare fleets. Today’s partnership with Polestar further builds on our ambition to become a leading participant in the modern mobility ecosystem and doing so as an environmentally-forward company.'

He added, 'By working with EV industry leaders like Polestar, we can help accelerate the adoption of electrification while providing renters, corporate customers and rideshare partners a premium EV product, exceptional experience and lower carbon footprint.”