Houston may be known as the capital of the US oil industry, but Mayor Sylvester Turner has a Climate Action Plan that sets out to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve regional air quality.
Mayor Turner recently joined Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr to announce the launch of the Hertz Electrifies Houston initiative. The rental giant plans to expand its EV fleet, establish a public charging hub, and support EV education and training opportunities in Houston.
Hertz aims to bring over 2,100 rental EVs to Houston, nearly tripling its existing EV fleet in the city—including models from Tesla, Polestar and GM. In partnership with bp pulse, Hertz will support the installation of a large EV fast charging hub designed to serve ride-hail and taxi fleets, as well as the general public, at the Hertz facility at Houston Hobby airport.
To help inform the buildout of charging infrastructure across Houston, Hertz will share with the city anonymous, aggregated telematic insights from its fleet of connected cars through the Hertz Charging Opportunity Index.
Hertz is donating an EV and providing educational and training materials to Lone Star College-North Harris to enable the school to incorporate EV technology into its auto servicing curriculum. Hertz is also making summer jobs available to young people in Houston, including through the Hire Houston Youth Summer Jobs program.
“We are excited to partner with Mayor Turner and Evolve Houston to bring Hertz Electrifies to the Energy Capital of the World, and to expand charging capacity for our customers and the broader community,” said Mr. Scherr. “As Hertz creates the largest EV rental fleet in North America, we look forward to working with the city, Lone Star College-North Harris and other organizations to expand the benefits of electrification in the Houston community.”
“Our goal is to convert all non-emergency, light-duty municipal vehicles to electric by 2030,” said Mayor Sylvester. “This partnership with Hertz will provide an invaluable boost to achieve this goal. Electrification can benefit every community in Houston.”
“Along with our partnership with Hertz to develop a Gigahub site at their Houston Hobby Airport location, we are also developing a charging hub at bp’s corporate HQ campus in Houston that will be open to the public,” said Vic Shao, President of bp pulse fleet.
Hertz recently launched a similar Hertz Electrifies initiative in Denver, and plans to expand the program to other US cities.
Source: Hertz
