Following up on this April’s announcement that it would deliver 65,000 of its electric Polestar 2 sedan to Hertz, Polestar today announced that first delivery for the rental fleet is underway. The partnership mirrors a similar deal between Hertz and Tesla announced last year. Tesla’s Model 3 and the Polestar 2 compete in the same category as longer-range, high-tech electric sedans. While the Tesla order was for 100,00 vehicles, the 65,000 over five years promise made by Polestar still makes the deal one of the largest EV orders.
What’s the Deal?
Polestar’s hybrid halo car, the Polestar 1, will also be added to Hertz’s “Dream” fleet of flagship vehicles. But the 2 as a mainstream model will be targeted at getting everyday renters familiar with an electric vehicle from a make they probably haven’t heard of. The deal marks significant progress for the company’s ambitions of expanding to 290,000 cars delivered by the end of 2025. Currently, the brand has 55,000 vehicles on the road.
Where is Polestar Heading?
If Polestar can deliver the 65,000 promised cars, it will seriously have cemented itself as a more viable competitor to Tesla than many of the more nascent startups in the space. When TFL tested the Polestar 2, we found it to be a great sedan but were disappointed by the cramped rear passenger area and buggy software. If the kinks and bugs in the tech have been worked out since then, the Android Automotive OS powering Polestar’s vehicles will catch the attention of younger renters used to mirroring their smartphones on the dash.
Hot on the heels of sneak-peeking it’s SUV Polestar 3, the Volvo sister-brand is making a case for itself as an EV juggernaut. With a smaller SUV-coupe 4 and a slick-looking 5 model in the works, we’re expecting to hear even more from the brand in the coming months.
