Tesla gets order for 100,000 Model 3 from Hertz – and tops European sales

Tesla has received an order for 100,000 Model 3 EVs from Hertz – said to be worth £3 billion – and tops the sales charts in Europe in September.

The Covid pandemic has turned the world upside down in the last eighteen months, with one of the big winners Tesla as it continues to roll out more and more EVs to a world more open to planet-friendly EVs after the wake-up call of Covid.

At the other end of the Pandemic effect we have Hertz, which went from a successful car rental company serving business travellers and holidaymakers across the globe, to having no customers and effectively going bust.

Now the pandemic bookends join together as the re-structured Hertz places an order with Tesla for 100,000 Model 3 EVs to rent out in the US and Europe in a deal said to be worth £3 billion and the first big step to electrify the entire Hertz fleet. The news saw Tesla’s value rise to £725 billion.

To make things as easy as possible for EV renters, they’ll have access to Tesla’s Supercharger network, and Hertz plan to build out their own charging infrastructure too.

In more good news for Tesla, sales figures for Europe for September reveal the Tesla Model 3 was the best-selling car in Europe. Not just the best-selling EV, but the best-selling car bar none, beating the Renault Clio in the second, the Dacia  Sandero in to third and the VW Golf in to fourth.

It’s probably not a scenario that will be repeated any time soon but is down to Tesla’s normal end of quarter push and a shortage of chips for ICE cars limiting supply and sales.

Still, it’s an impressive milestone for EVs.