I'm not sure maintenance costs are really the relevant part. It seems like the problem is that Teslas are cheaper now and thus Hertz's fleet is worth less than it was before. Additionally, they find that Teslas suffer more damage, likely from collisions or similar. Routine maintenance costs are not mentioned in that article at all.
>In short, the declining value of the Tesla cars in Hertz’s fleet—a decline directly caused by Musk’s price cuts—has hit Hertz squarely in its profits.
>Without explaining precisely why, Scherr said Hertz is suffering a higher incidence of damage specifically with its EV fleet, where the repair costs are roughly double that of a comparable gas-fueled car.
>“Studies of current EV ownership evidence lower incidence of damage and collision than for ICE vehicles, not higher as we are experiencing,” he revealed.
Musk’s price cuts then become an acute problem when one of the Hertz EVs sustains so much damage that the cost of repair is more than the asset itself.
>“Where a car is salvaged, we must crystallize at once any difference between our carrying value and the market value of that car,” Scherr explained. “The [price] declines in EVs over the course of 2023, driven primarily by Tesla, have driven the fair market value of our EVs lower as compared to last year, such that a salvage creates a larger loss and, therefore, greater burden.”
>In short, Hertz then needs to book a noncash accounting charge. Together with the higher repair costs this led to significant profit margin headwinds.
https://archive.ph/leFdf
