This September in Europe, the Tesla Model 3 became not only the best-selling electric car, but the best-selling automobile on the continent.
Extraordinarily, the popular electric 4-seater beat out a true European staple of people-movers, the Renault Clio, by 6,000 sales, and bettered the number-two selling electric car by about 15,000 sales.
Having largely debunked the old claim that the manufacture and electricity consumption of electric cars created as much if not more emissions than internal combustion vehicles, the electric vehicle industry is speeding forward into the wider automotive field.
Last Monday, Hertz, the second-largest rental firm in the U.S, announced that it had placed an order for 100,000 Tesla cars for its fleet, an announcement which caused the Tesla stock to explode in value to levels higher than companies that make and sell thousands more cars per year than Tesla does.
“The new Hertz is going to lead the way as a mobility company,” Hertz’s interim CEO, Mark Fields said in a release, “starting with the largest EV rental fleet in North America and a commitment to grow our EV fleet and provide the best rental and recharging experience for leisure and business customers around the world.”
To this end, they hope to have all 100,000 cars by next December, and to have one-fifth of their fleet electrified by the same date. They have also announced plans to install tens of thousands of charging points—we can assume there will be at least one for every Hertz office—to make it more feasible to rent outside major cities.
It’s a big gamble, as Hertz had to file for bankruptcy during the pandemic, and was only saved by a large investor bailout.
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With investors coming in from both the tech and growth-oriented buyer class, Tesla has been able to expand at a rapid pace, and their sales are up 77% in Europe in 2021 compared with the same period last year. The American company is currently constructing a Tesla “Gigafactory” in Germany—where they will be able to increase production for the hungry European market.
DRIVE Over These Soaring Sales Numbers to Social Media…