Hertz has co-led a $19m (£14m/€16.8m) investment in UFODrive, an app-based electric vehicle rental company, to enhance its global EV fleet operations.

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Founded in 2018, UFODrive provides an all-digital, all-electric car rental service via an app. Developed to make transitioning to electric easy for both customers and fleet providers – including through AI tools – its technology delivers a two-minute ‘arrive-and-drive’ entirely digital EV customer experience.

UFODrive’s Series A financing round was co-led by Hertz and private equity firm Certares, in partnership with Knighthead Capital Management.

The partnership with UFODrive will see Hertz deploy its digital rental and fleet management technology to enhance its global EV fleet operations, following successful live testing in 2021.

Starting with Hertz’s key partners in the US and Europe, this will offer a fully digital rental experience, charge point wayfinding, touchless smartphone access and online customer support with live telematics using UFODrive’s SaaS platform.

The partnership builds on Hertz’s news in October 2021 of its investment in EVs – with a commitment to offer the largest electric vehicle rental fleet in North America and to grow its EV fleet globally. It’s also committed to providing the best rental and recharging experience for leisure and business customers around the world. And in October last year, the company also announced an exclusive partnership with Uber to make Tesla electric vehicles available for drivers to rent when using the Uber network.

“Our partnership with UFODrive is yet another major step in Hertz becoming an essential component of the modern mobility ecosystem,” said Mark Fields, Hertz interim CEO. “Together, we will pilot ways to make renting an EV even easier using UFODrive’s digital platforms for both the rental experience and fleet management. For customers, this partnership will help us create the future rental car experience that is all-digital and EV-centric.”

UFODrive said it would use the additional capital to accelerate product development and to expand globally, with a focus on the US market.

Aidan McClean, UFODrive CEO, said: “Born from a vision to deliver what we call ‘Radically Better Car Rental,’ this investment is a major validation of that dream. We are proud that we are helping to accelerate the transition to zero-emissions mobility, and our investors see the opportunity ahead.”

McClean added: “We pioneered and are now the premier operating system for electric fleets and already service a growing list of high-profile mobility companies.”