During New York City Climate Week, Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr and New York City Mayor Eric Adams launched “Hertz Electrifies New York City,” a public-private partnership aimed at increasing electric vehicle (EV) adoption and extending the environmental and economic benefits of electrification across neighbourhoods.
Through the initiative, Hertz intends to add up to 1,700 rental EVs to its local fleet, create 100 new jobs to serve its growing New York presence, and partner with four public high schools to create EV education and training opportunities for students. The partnership also includes the donation of five EVs from Hertz’s fleet to help New York City schools provide hands-on training to the next generation of auto technicians.
“Hertz is investing in the largest EV rental fleet in North America,” said Stephen Scherr, Hertz Chair and CEO. “New York City has always been on the cutting edge of technology and innovation, making it a natural accelerator for the most significant transformation that’s happened in the auto industry in a century. We are excited to partner with Mayor Adams to launch Hertz Electrifies during Climate Week, helping to make the electric driving experience more accessible in New York City while investing in the city’s workforce.”
“Hertz Electrifies New York City” builds on Mayor Adams’ nation-leading efforts to make vehicles in the city more sustainable. The administration is rapidly transitioning the city fleet to electric vehicles and building the necessary infrastructure to support that transition, while setting a new national standard by requiring rideshare vehicle companies to be completely zero-emission or wheelchair-accessible by 2030 and pursuing a broader agenda to promote driving electric across the city.
“New York City is in the driver’s seat as we accelerate towards our clean, green, electric future, and public-private partnerships, like what we’re announcing today with Hertz, will help us get there because to successfully transition New York City to electric vehicles and properly fight climate change, everyone must come along for the ride — from the public to the private sector,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “As we celebrate Climate Week, we’re proud to announce an expansion of our partnership with Hertz. This investment will also make more EVs available to New Yorkers, while preparing our youth for the emerging green economy of the future and helping us fight climate change from behind the wheel.”
As part of Hertz Electrifies New York City, Hertz is partnering with and donating electric vehicles to A-Tech High School in Brooklyn, Thomas Edison Career and Technical Education High School in Queens, Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School in the Bronx and Ralph R. McKee Career and Technical Education High School on Staten Island.
“We are excited to announce this dynamic partnership with Hertz Electrifies,” said First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright. “Creating a better and more eco-friendly environment requires more than a singular change. Through this partnership, not only are we building a cleaner city by introducing more electric vehicles to New York City, but we are also preparing for the future by training the next generation of a green economy workforce.”
Additionally, Hertz is sharing telematic insights from its fleet of connected cars to assist the city in planning for additional public charging infrastructure across all neighborhoods through its Hertz Charging Opportunity Index.
As the Mayor’s EV initiatives are implemented, Hertz will continue making its EV fleet available to rideshare drivers in New York City. To date, more than 50,000 rideshare drivers across the country have rented EVs from Hertz, logging more than 260 million electric miles.
To support its growing EV presence in New York, Hertz is working with bp to launch bp pulse fast charging hubs in New York City, starting with midtown Manhattan. These sites will feature ultra-fast chargers of 150kW+ designed to serve Hertz customers, taxi and ride-share drivers, and the public.
New York City is committed to cutting transportation emissions in half by 2030 and achieving net-zero transportation emissions by 2050. This requires helping more New Yorkers walk, bike, and take public transit, and, when they need to drive, encouraging them to drive electric — a key component of Mayor Adams’ “PlaNYC: Getting Sustainability Done.” The plan commits to ensuring no New Yorker is more than 2.5 miles from an electric vehicle fast-charging hub, requires parking garages and lots to make charging available to their customers, and requires all rideshare vehicles to be either zero-emission or wheelchair accessible by 2030. The city is also supporting the electrification of freight vehicles, working to pilot the East Coast’s first low-emissions zone, and creating shared charging depots for electric trucks. The city is leading by example with its own fleet, having already replaced nearly 4,500 fossil-fuel powered vehicles with electric vehicles and operating its own 1,700-port electric vehicle charging network.
“New York City is always leading the charge in modeling important transformation for our country and the city’s investment in the green economy is no different,” said DOE Chancellor David C. Banks. “There’s no better way to ensure that we see the return on that investment than to have our students trained on the importance of electric vehicles. Not only are we setting our children up with bold futures in emerging industries, but we are teaching them to use innovation to create a better tomorrow for everyone.”
New York is the fifth and largest city to partner with Hertz through Hertz Electrifies to accelerate consumer adoption of electric vehicles and bring environmental and economic benefits to communities across the country.
