Hertz selling off EVs due to higher repair costs 3

[Brian Malone]

Interestingly, Hertz is dropping its initial embrace of EV tech and selling off its Teslas, and other EVs. Stating the higher repair costs for collision repair has limited the ability to make EVs work within its business.

https://www.reuters.com/business/au...rtz-sell-about-20000-evs-us-fleet-2024-01-11/

My basic understanding is Tesla regular yearly maintenance is a little higher than for a mid-market to high-end luxury vehicles but it is positioned as a luxury car line so that is not surprising. Is the higher collision repair cost being driven by:
1. Exclusive maintenance and service arrangements with auto service providers?
2. Exclusive / limited supply of replacement parts?
3. Intrinsic higher cost of replacement parts?

I don't yet have an EV but I have considered the Model Y pretty strongly. Seeing the softening of the EV sales may be a good thing for me as a fence-sitter. The plug-in hybrids make more sense for my general use but the Tesla Y really embodies a lot items I like: interior space, simplicity of design, potential for speed (if needed/desired), open glass area for visibility, Supercharger Network etc.

 

[BrianPetersen]

https://evbatteryrebuilds.com/en/ev-battery-rebuilds-2-3/

 

[BrianPetersen]

https://grubermotors.com/services/model-s-main-battery-pack-repair/

 

[IFRs]

I travel a lot and rent cars a lot. After my first 2 or 3 EVs I stopped having range anxiety. I usually rent at airports and stay within about 150 miles of the airport. I started staying at hotels with chargers (easy to find) and the cars themselves do a good job of finding charging stations near good restaurauts, stores I wanted to visit, also easy to find. There is often a fun, informative and positive community around the chargers. Often my customer give me grief for driving an EV, so I invite them to lunch or for a brief spin around the block. After pinning their ears back and exploring some of the other features they change their tune. At this point, for me anyway, they are just a car, with unique features like other cars - some plus, some minus but perfectly acceptable for what I need. One bonus is that you don't have to deal with finding a gas station to fill up when you bring it back, most just say bring it back with 50% charge or more. Oh yes - try not to rent one at midnight in a dark garage with no idea how to turn it on, activate wipers or lights, no idea how to engage the navigation and no idea how to adjust the regenerative braking which can be so aggressive that you get whiplash forward and backward!