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Hertz expands EV offerings with new Polestar partnership for 65,000 vehicles

Credit: Polestar

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Update to final paragraph updating offerings at 12:17 pm EST.

Hertz Corporation announced today it had reached and announced a new global partnership with Sweden’s Polestar to purchase up to 65,000 vehicles over five years.

Hertz will now offer the Polestar 2 after bringing on Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y into its rental fleet late in 2021.

“We are excited to partner with Polestar and look forward to introducing their premium EV products into our retail and rideshare fleets,” Stephen Scherr, CEO of Hertz, said. “Today’s partnership with Polestar further builds on our ambition to become a leading participant in the modern mobility ecosystem and doing so as an environmentally-forward company. By working with EV industry leaders like Polestar, we can help accelerate the adoption of electrification while providing renters, corporate customers, and rideshare partners a premium EV product, exceptional experience, and lower carbon footprint.”

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Hertz said it will purchase up to 65,000 vehicles that will be provided over a five-year span, with initial availability expected to begin in Spring 2022.

After announcing the purchase of 100,000 Tesla electric vehicles in October, Hertz became the rental entity with the largest EV rental fleet in North America and one of the largest in the world. Hertz said the Polestar fleet will be available to business and leisure customers, and also its rideshare drivers “to further accelerate electrification.”

“Polestar is committed to accelerating the move to electric mobility with a fascinating and innovative product portfolio,” Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said. “We are delighted that Hertz has chosen Polestar as a strategic partner on their road to electrification. The partnership with a global pioneer like Hertz will bring the amazing experience of driving an electric car to a wider audience, satisfying a broad variety of our mutual customers’ short- and longer-term mobility requirements. For many of them, it may be the first time they have driven an EV, and it will be a Polestar.”

Polestar 2 receives top marks in crash safety tests, living up to its Volvo roots

For now, only the Polestar 2 will be a part of the deal, Hertz said. “Polestar 2 brings avant-garde Scandinavian design and leading in-car technology. Polestar 2 includes the world’s first infotainment system powered by Android Automotive OS with Google built-in for the premium EV segment, in a driver-oriented, dynamic driving package,” Hertz described in their press release announcing the partnership.

In late March, Polestar announced the introduction of the Polestar 2’s Single Motor trim level to the United States market. The EPA rates the Polestar 2 Single Motor vehicle with 270 miles of range. It packs an identical battery pack as the Dual Motor trim, a 78-kWh battery pack with 231 horsepower and 243 pound-feet of torque. The powertrain is front-wheel-drive, and thanks to its capability to charge at 150 kWh with a DC fast charger, the Polestar 2 can gain 80 percent charge in just 40 minutes.

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Hertz told Teslarati initial orders will be model year 2022’s for the international division, with 2023 Polestar 2s in the United States. Other models could be included in the future, the company told us.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Elon Musk hints at Tesla Cybercab’s next market

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(Credit: Teslarati)

After launching in Austin, Texas, last week, Tesla is looking to expand the Cybercab to new parts of the United States in an effort that will see the driverless, steering wheel-less, and pedal-less vehicle chauffeur people around as part of the Robotaxi ride-hailing service.

However, the expansion will go far beyond the United States, and CEO Elon Musk revealed he hopes Europe will be the next market where Cybercab will be operational.

Musk has publicly expressed hope that Tesla’s Cybercab robotaxi will reach Europe in the near future.

On September 8, Tesla’s Chief Executive quoted a German rider who had just completed a trip in Austin, Texas, and wrote that he hoped the vehicle would not take years to arrive in Germany. Musk replied with a short but notable message: “Hopefully soon in Europe too.”

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The comment arrived only days after Tesla opened Cybercab ride-hailing to the public in Austin. The two-seat vehicle has no steering wheel or pedals and relies entirely on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software. Early passengers have described the rides as quiet, smooth, and more stylish than competing robotaxis such as Waymo.

Austin is currently the only city where members of the public can hail a Cybercab through Tesla’s Robotaxi app. The initial fleet is small; Texas registration records show only a few dozen of the purpose-built vehicles on the road.

Tesla set to open Cybercab rides to the public, with no steering wheel or pedals

Tesla has also been operating a larger number of conventional Model Y robotaxis in the same area, but the Cybercab itself represents the company’s first dedicated, controls-free taxi design.

Europe presents a different regulatory picture. The European Union does not permit manufacturers to self-certify vehicles the way Tesla did in the United States.

Type-approval rules and a small-series limit of 1,500 automated vehicles per type per year apply across the bloc.

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Supervised Full Self-Driving has gained provisional approval in several member states through national recognition of Dutch certification, yet unsupervised robotaxi operation remains a separate and more distant step. Tesla has not announced a European launch city, date, or approval pathway for the Cybercab.

Musk himself has previously cautioned that the company does not control European regulators. In an earnings call earlier in 2026, he noted that even supervised FSD took an “immense amount of time” to clear and that unsupervised service would be “somewhat at the mercy of the governments in Europe and the EU.”

The latest social-media remark therefore functions more as an expression of intent than a timetable.

If the Cybercab eventually reaches European streets, it would mark a significant expansion of Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions beyond the United States. For now, the vehicle remains an Austin-only experience, and the gap between Musk’s hope and actual deployment will be decided by regulators rather than by engineering alone.

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Tesla Cybercab improvements are already on the minds of company engineers

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Credit: Tesla Europe & Middle East | X

Tesla Cybercab might have just rolled out to the public as it entered the company’s Robotaxi suite in Austin this past week. However, the vehicle might already be on its way to becoming even better, as the company is asking riders to describe what they’d like to see improved with the Cybercab.

Tesla sent a rider experience survey to Cybercab passengers only days after paid rides began in Austin. The questionnaire asks how satisfied riders were with the overall trip. Then it requests star ratings for availability and wait time, door functionality, vehicle touchscreen, mobile app experience, seat comfort, interior space, ride comfort, cleanliness, and cargo space.

A later section asks which features riders would most like to have and allows selection of up to three items from a list that includes heated seats, ventilated seats, fully reclining seats, a tray table, a wireless phone charger, a better sound system, and more storage. Respondents may also choose none of these or write in another idea. The survey closes with a recommendation score from zero to ten.

This rapid request for input illustrates Tesla’s habit of treating early users as collaborators rather than mere customers. The company has long refined vehicles through software updates and hardware changes informed by real-world use across its passenger cars.

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Collecting structured opinions so soon after commercial service started shows the same mindset applied to a purpose-built autonomous taxi. The questions themselves reveal an openness to cabin changes even after the first vehicles reached public streets, which is no surprise.

Tesla has always hoped to cater a great experience to anyone in its vehicles, which is why so many fan-requested features have made it into its vehicles.

Replies already circulating online favor reclining seats, tray tables, wireless charging, improved audio, and extra room when seats fold back.

Tesla Cybercabs narrowly miss deadly Amazon cargo plane crash

Those preferences point toward comfort upgrades that Tesla can implement in later production batches or through cabin revisions. Because the Cybercab is designed around software first principles, many requested amenities can arrive faster than in traditional automakers.

Tesla’s willingness to survey riders immediately after launch therefore makes near-term cabin and experience improvements likely as the team reviews responses and iterates toward a more refined robotaxi people will choose daily.

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Tesla Cybertruck engineer reveals new changes in ‘constantly evolving’ pickup

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer | YouTube

Tesla Cybertruck Lead Engineer Wes Morrill revealed the company has made several changes to the all-electric pickup, which he calls a “living thing, constantly evolving and improving.”

Cybertruck is manufactured at Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas just outside of Austin, and over the past few years, Tesla has continued to make small changes to the pickup to improve everything from cost, reliability, serviceablility, and manufacturability.

“The finish line isn’t getting to production. A product is a living thing, constantly evolving and improving,” Morrill added.

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Tesla Cybertruck AWD is a steal at $60k, is it still at $75k? Full Review

Some of those changes are yet to be revealed, but perhaps the most notable one was the change Tesla made to the aero shield that sits underneath the truck. In the past, it was aluminum, but now the Cybertruck is using a self-reinforcing polypropylene.

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Morrill said that the polypropylene is “stretched into fibers and then laminated into the form,” and is much more durable, much lighter, and significantly cheaper than aluminum when it is manufactured this way.

It also enabled some improvements in the geometry of the Cybertruck, improving the manufacturing around the bolts and edges, in addition to minor form changes. These all benefitted the Cybertruck in more ways than one: specifically with durability and improved drag.

Typically, Teslas are not necessarily identified by model year because these changes are fluid and occur when the company sees fit to implement them. It is not like other automotive companies, which usually make sweeping manufacturing changes when building a new model year.

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Instead, Teslas are recognized by their “generation” or “era.” For example, those with a newer Model Y might refer to their car as a “Juniper.” This is the same with Model 3, as many refer to the new body style as the “Highland.”

Tesla’s manufacturing changes are proof of the company’s constant need to improve its products and move things forward with its vehicles. There is no need to drag one’s feet and wait until next year if the product can be made better right now, and that’s precisely what Tesla did with the Cybertruck.

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