After last week’s reports that his company was all set to deliver 100,000 vehicles to the car rental company by the end of 2022, Elon Musk has said that Tesla has not yet signed any deal with Hertz. This comes after the latter had revealed a week ago that it ordered the vehicles, making the EV maker’s shares jump 12.6 percent.
No Contract in Place, But Deliveries Underway
Musk shared on his Twitter that no such contract had yet been signed, even as Hertz announced that deliveries were already underway. A spokesperson for the firm has said that apart from the order, Hertz is also investing in new EV charging infrastructure. At the same time though, they have refused to comment on whether or not a contract has officially been signed with Tesla, while adding that it doesn’t indulge in making the details of its business relations public.
Nevertheless, the deal, if it goes through, will become the largest-ever for electric vehicles as rental cars. Hertz interim boss Mark Fields has said that there is an increasing global demand as electric vehicles become mainstream. The company will reportedly be paying a sum of $4.2 billion for the 100,000 Model 3 cars over the next 14 months. It also plans to set up a network of charging stations.
In a statement, the car rental firm has said that the program is set to begin “in early November and expand through year end,” in order to allow customers to rent Tesla Model 3s at Hertz airport and neighborhood locations in select areas in Europe and the US.
Same Price as Consumers
But Musk has firmly said that no contract is yet in place, emphasizing the fact that since Tesla’s demand far exceeds production, any sales to Hertz will be made for the same margin as that to consumers. He signs off by saying that the deal will not have any effect on his firm’s economics.
Following the rise in shares, Tesla became only the fifth company to cross the threshold of a market value of $1 trillion on the 25th of last month, following Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, and Amazon. This prompted Musk to further say in a tweet that it’s actually “strange” that valuations moved at all, seeing as how Tesla’s problem lies in production instead of demand. He also, rather cheekily, added that Hertz won’t be getting any discount on their order, and will be charged the same price as other customers.
Source: BBC
