All posts by Francis Mitterrand

News

Hertz Car Rental is selling over 30,000 EVs

Hertz Car Rental announced that it is selling almost 30,000 electric vehicles due to increased losses. A few years ago, the rental company acquired a large number of electric vehicles, but in the end this experiment was not successful.

The company aims to sell a certain number of cars by the end of the year, including the Tesla and Polestar models. A number of vehicles will remain in the fleet to meet the needs of customers booking trips in electric cars. The reason for this decision is low earnings, and electric vehicles that are not in use quickly lose value.

Three years ago, the company ordered 100,000 units of the Tesla Model 3, which at the time seemed like a good business move. Customers liked the car, and the company only had to pay for simple interventions such as tire repair, windshield wiper fluid, etc. Luckily, all the vehicles were not even delivered, so the losses are smaller.

The biggest problems appeared when Tesla started cutting the prices of the vehicles. This forced Hertz to start thinking about selling, as the price of the vehicle they owned was higher than the price of a new car, causing them to quickly lose money.

To make matters worse, the analysis showed that Tesla cars are not as economical as the company thought. There were also transport problems caused by accidents, leading to high repair costs and long deliveries.

Hertz will continue selling EVs in 2025.

Source: Hertz Car Rental; Photo: EPA-EFE

News

Ford is reducing production at the Cologne plant

The European electric vehicle market has been unstable for a long time, so due to the drop in demand, some manufacturers are deciding to reduce production. One of them is Ford, which announced that it is reducing production at the Cologne plant in Germany.

Ford has invested $2 billion in the facility to prepare it for electric vehicle production, but a rapid decline in demand for electric vehicles is holding back production of the Explorer and Capri models. Both models use Volkswagen technology, as clones of the ID model, and do not give the expected results. Employees will have no choice but to work one week and take another week off until the Christmas holidays.

Back in September, the American manufacturer realized that the too fast shutdown of cars with internal combustion engines, on which the manufacturer built its image for many years, was a failure. That’s why he started strongly advocating the return of ICE cars.

Gunnar Herrmann, Member of the Supervisory Board, believes that Ford’s survival depends on ICE cars and in a statement to the German press, he was more than clear that the current production at the factory where he is responsible is too small to justify two-shift operations. He also stated that he advised Ford managers in the United States that the focus in Europe should remain on ICE cars, but Ford’s headquarters in the United States do not intend to reconsider this decision and save what can be saved.

Source: Reuters

Tuning

Mercedes-Benz 190E HWA EVO

At the end of the 70s, Mercedes competed in the rally mainly with the 450 SLC 5.0 model, but the desire of the German company was to introduce the 190 E model into this competition. It was this model that was the inspiration for the HWA tuner project that presented Mercedes-Benz 190E HWA EVO.

Following Mercedes’ decision to enter the 190 E into rally competition, the British engineering company Cosworth developed a 2.3-L 16V engine. It debuted in 1983, and five years later it was replaced by a new 2.5-L 16V engine.

With the debut of the BMW M3 Evolution 2 in 1988, it was clear that Mercedes had to increase the power of the 2.5-L 16V engine, so at the 1989 Geneva Auto Show the 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution (EVO I) debuted. Just one year later, the new EVO II model was presented.

Now HWA is revealing a restomod of this model, although the company’s technical director Gordian von Schöning says it’s more than that.

The Mercedes-Benz 190E EVO II brought Mercedes the DTM Championship title in 1992, and HWA’s EVO is not based on one of the 502 original cars, not even the 190E 2.5-16 model. The basis was the Mercedes 190, but HWA’s engineers worked so hard on it that it can be said that the car is far from the original. The donor car was completely disassembled, aluminum components and steel subframes were installed, which allowed the suspension to be mounted directly to the chassis. Also, the front axle has been moved forward by 50 mm.

Under the hood is a new 3.0-L V6 biturbo engine with 540 hp, mated to a new 6-speed manual transmission that sends power to the rear axle. DTM carriages, hubs, H&R balance bars and KW shocks are installed, which can be ordered with manual and electronic adjustment. Customers can choose between steel and carbon Bosch brakes.

When it comes to price, the Mercedes-Benz 190E EVO II Restomod costs 714,000 euros.

Source: HWA

Gallery:

Mercedes-Benz 190E HWA EVO