Tesla Denies Signing Hertz Deal For EV Order

Tesla boss Elon Musk revealed on Tuesday that the electric carmaker has not yet signed a contract with car rental firm Hertz over an order for 100,000 vehicles announced last week, according to a Euronews report

Photo Insert: A publicity photo released by Hertz showing Tesla Model 3 EVs parked in front of the former's office in line with its announcement of the deal, one that Tesla boss Elon Musk stated has not been finalized with signatures on a contract.

Hertz said it would put in an order for 100,000 Teslas by the end of 2022, in a move that it claimed would give the company one of the world's biggest fleets of rental EVs.

News of the announcement pushed Tesla's valuation above $1 trillion (€862 billion) for the first time, boosting company CEO Musk's personal wealth by over $36 billion (€31 billion) in the process.

But in a tweet about Tesla's stock price late on Monday, Musk said that no deal had been signed. Tesla stock later fell 5 percent.

"If any of this is based on Hertz, I'd like to emphasize that no contract has been signed yet… Hertz deal has zero effect on our economics," Musk wrote.

Last week, Hertz interim CEO Mark Fields told the Reuters news agency that the company primarily planned to order Tesla Model 3 vehicles.

Fields wouldn’t say how much Hertz is spending on the order, however, the deal is likely to be worth around $4 billion (€3.46 billion), based on the Model 3's starting price of about $40,000 (€34,626).

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