BP to Invest $1B to Help Hertz Meet EV Rental Demand

Oil and gas giant BP plans to invest $1 billion by 2030 to install electric vehicle charging stations across the United States, the company announced Wednesday. The move is in part to help Hertz meet what it calls its growing EV rental demand, according to the companies. 

The energy company plans to bring fast-charging infrastructure to Hertz locations in a dozen cities: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Miami, New York City, Orlando, Phoenix, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. 

Some installations will include “gigahubs locations,” which are large-scale fast-charging hubs. One is planned for Los Angeles International Airport. The hubs will service rideshare and taxi drivers, car rental customers and the general public at high-demand locations, such as airports. The buildout will be determined by telematics from Hertz’s fleet of connected cars, according to the companies.

The announcement is an expansion of the Hertz and BP September 2022 memorandum of understandingwhich set out to develop a network of EV charging stations across Hertz’s national footprint powered by BP Pulse, the energy company’s global electrification and charging solution brand, according to the companies.

Hertz currently has “tens of thousands” of EVs for rent at more than 750 Hertz locations across 38 states, according to the company. Its goal is to have one-quarter of its fleet be electric by the end of 2024. As of Dec. 31, 2022, the company had nearly 466,000 rentable vehicles during the fourth quarter of 2022, per a Feb. 7 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.