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Tesla order could double to 200,000 Model 3s to satisfy deal with Uber, says Hertz CEO

by Fred Lambert

October 28, 2021

Hertz CEO Mark Fields revealed that its deal to supply Tesla vehicles to Uber includes an option for 100,000 more Tesla Model 3s, which would double its total order to 200,000 vehicles. Earlier this week, Hertz announced that it ordered 100,000 Model 3 vehicles from Tesla as part of a new plan to electrify its fleet.

In the last few days, we have been learning more about this deal. Yesterday, we learned that only half of those 100,000 vehicles will be used in Hertz’s fleet of vehicles available for rent to regular customers at airports and different locations.

The other half is going to be made available to Uber drivers as part of a deal with the ride-hailing company.

Now Fields, interim CEO of Hertz, confirmed in a new interview with CNN that the deal with Uber includes an option of 150,000 total Tesla vehicles:

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who was also on the interview, was asked if he is confident that enough drivers on his network would take them up on the offer to rent the Model 3 for ~$300 a week from Hertz.

He confirmed that he was very confident based on their data, and that’s when Fields added: I would add that part of our agreement is that if this program is successful, and we believe it will, that over the next three years, it could grow to 150,000 Teslas that can be provided by Hertz to Uber as well.

Currently, the deal involves 50,000 Model 3s out of Hertz’s order of 100,000 Model 3 vehicles to be delivered by Tesla by the end of next year.

Increasing the deal with Uber to 150,000 vehicles over the next three years would require Hertz to order an additional 100,000 vehicles from Tesla if they plan to still use the other half of their initial order to update the main rental fleet.

During the interview, Fields was also asked whether or not Hertz received a discount from Tesla like it usually does when ordering large fleets, but the CEO wouldn’t comment on the cost. Tesla CEO Elon Musk previously said that they didn’t offer a discount on the deal with Hertz.

Fields was also asked about ordering the Full Self-Driving (FSD) package on the vehicles, and he confirmed that for the deal with Uber, the drivers won’t have access to the FSD package.