The BYD e6 is one of the battery cars Hertz plans to offer in China.
Plagued by pollution and saddled with an increasingly massive bill for foreign oil, China is putting a major emphasis on switching to battery power – and rent-a-car company Hertz is teaming up with GE to take advantage of this transition.
Hertz Corporation is expanding its Global EV initiative to China, making it the first global rental car company to offer electric vehicles on three continents.
“China has committed to rapidly expand electric vehicle travel and Hertz is committed to supporting the important EV Pilot City program,” said Mark P. Frissora, the rental car company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Working with our existing rental car network in China and partners such as GE, we are dedicated to helping build the necessary EV infrastructure in China and to create a new transportation solution that employs the latest technology and harnesses innovations being launched in China today.”
Both Hertz and GE Industrial Solutions will leverage each other’s services, products and client bases to go to market together as business partners. They plat to co-locate electric vehicles and GE’s EV infrastructure across China. The two companies will bundle EV leasing and charging facilities as a solution, which will be offered to multinational companies and government agencies looking – or forced – to go green.
As part of the deal, GE Industrial Solutions will provide end-to-end integrated EV infrastructure solutions and electrical distribution products to support Hertz vehicles. An initial focus of the partnership is Shanghai, which is the key China International EV Pilot City.
Shanghai’s Jiading district will serve as the electric vehicle international demonstration zone, with a goal of increasing public awareness and promoting the switch to battery power.
The Chinese automaker BYD, which is partially owned by U.S. investor Warren Buffett, also plans to collaborate with Hertz to create an EV mobility solution for government agencies in key Chinese cities.
As part of this agreement, Hertz also will introduce the BYD e6 EV into its Chinese fleet.
“Signing this MoU,” said Johnny Wang, GE Energy Industrial Solutions’ general manager for China, “will bring…integrated EV solutions based on our strengths and advantages in separate areas.”
What happens in China, however, could serve as a learning lesson in other parts of the world, Wang added, “Electric vehicles will be increasingly prioritized in national energy strategies around the world.”
Hertz now offers EVs in U.S.cities including New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, as well as in London and other cities in Europe.
“At the Clinton Global Initiative last September, we announced a commitment to provide electric vehicle access on a global scale, an ambitious goal,” commented Frissora. “In less than one year, Hertz is now the leading provider of EV mobility solutions, offering an unparalleled selection of EVs and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) in cities worldwide.”
The CEO promised to add still more consumer and business EV rental operations around the world, “as auto manufacturers ramp up EV and PHEV production over the next few years.”
GE, meanwhile, is positioning itself as a global leader in battery-electric propulsion, CEO Jeff Immelt recently committing to convert 50% of the global conglomerate’s vehicle fleet to battery power over the next several years.