Car-rental company Hertz is partnering with energy firm BP to develop a network of electric vehicle charging stations. BP Pulse, the EV charging unit, plans to power and manage Hertz’s charging infrastructure.
Hertz aims to add hundreds of thousands of EVs to its fleet over the next several years. The on-site chargers will recharge Hertz’s fleet and also be available to the general public and to ride-share and taxi drivers.
Their goal is to have 3,000 chargers in operation at their sites across the U.S. by 2023 – they currently have thousands of EVs available to rent at 500 locations in 38 states.
Senior Vice President of Operations Initiatives for Hertz commented that they “really believe things are going to go more shared. We want be able to get (people) from where they are to where they want to be in a shared way and an electrified way.”
By making more electric vehicles available as rentals, people who already drive electric can continue to drive the vehicles they’re comfortable and familiar with while they’re away and on the other hand, prospective buyers have the opportunity to test drive. Hertz is also opening the door for ride-sharing car services to move more quickly towards electric.
Installing new chargers at its locations across the U.S. means that Hertz is accelerating charging opportunities at big airports. The challenge will be how a fleet this large is managed. In the rental space, vehicles are turned around quickly, so it’s important that customers can expect to rent and charge these vehicles in the time that they need.
BP Pulse will provide software to help Hertz manage their growing EV fleet, particularly with “scheduling vehicles to recharge at lower-cost times of day” to reduce electricity costs. To manage large-scale fleets of electric vehicles, operational expenses must be handled in a more precise way. BP Pulse’s software Omega is particularly suited for rental EVs, handling workflow management, charger reliability, and energy management. Operators will need a complete picture of energy cost and use since electricity prices fluctuate.