Hertz announced a partnership with Tesla this week, meaning the car rental company, who recently avoided bankruptcy, will offer the maker’s Model 3 sedan as part of its rentable fleet for consumers. Tesla’s stock topped $1 trillion following the announcement.

The new offering is no surprise: interest in electric vehicles appears to only be getting stronger. According to CivicScience data, just about a third of American adults are already owners of electric vehicles, or intend to be in the future. In fact, CivicScience year-to-date data show that the percentage of respondents who own an EV has doubled since 2020, up from 4%, and intent to own grew three percentage points.

Around the same percentage of Americans are favorable to Tesla, sitting right at 30%. The automaker is top gun for electric vehicles, as 2020 sales show that Teslas accounted for close to 80% of electric vehicle purchases in the U.S.

However, that is about to change, as major automakers like GM and Volkwagen are getting in on the EV game, with plans to almost exclusively produce electric cars. Perhaps the Hertz move for Tesla is a way to compete with future electric vehicles by increasing direct consumer experience with them. 

In terms of interest from the general public, it looks pretty good right out the gate for Hertz. Numbers look similar to Tesla favorabity as well as public interest in electric cars. Roughly 30% of American adults who responded to the survey say they are at least somewhat interested in renting a Tesla Model 3 through Hertz in the future. 

In general, the car rental market looks good for the next six months. Fifteen percent of U.S. adults say they will rent a car for travel in that timeframe, and another 13% could potentially do so (indicated ‘I’m not sure’).

Of those who have plans to rent a car, strong interest in the Hertz announcement is more than double that of the Gen Pop: 25% say they are very interested in renting a Tesla from Hertz in the future.

This move appears to be a smart one by both Hertz and Tesla to garner brand loyalty and adoption. Time will tell how this fits into the grander scheme of the future of electric cars.