Polestar's 65,000-car deal with Hertz could show people Tesla isn't the only electric car worth buying

• Electric-car brand Polestar will provide up to 65,000 vehicles for Hertz's rental fleet.
• Tesla made a similar deal with Hertz in October.

Electric-car maker Polestar took a page out of Tesla's playbook by inking a major deal to supply rental vehicles to Hertz. It could bring some name recognition to the young carmaker and help introduce more consumers to its vehicles.

The agreement, announced by both companies on Monday, provides Hertz with up to 65,000 Polestar vehicles over the next five years, starting with the Polestar 2 sedan. The deal could be a massive boon for Polestar, which spun out of Volvo in 2017 and shipped 29,000 vehicles last year. It should represent more than $3 billion worth of sales, one source told Automotive News.

But the Hertz deal is about more than a short-term bump in sales. It will also boost the visibility of a brand that makes excellent electric cars but has largely flown under the radar in the US.

"Let's face it, a new brand like us to gain access and visibility in the broader market … it's a great opportunity," Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath told Bloomberg.

I thoroughly enjoyed the $45,900 Polestar 2 sedan when I tested it earlier this year, but the puzzled glances I got indicated that few passersby had any idea what they were looking at. People can't buy your vehicles if they don't know they exist.

"Getting more products in front of more people can only help brand recognition for Polestar," Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, told Insider.

Carmakers have always seen rental fleets as an extension of their marketing department, Fiorani said, but the strategy makes particular sense for companies trying to push electric cars, which few consumers have experience driving. In October, Hertz announced it ordered 100,000 Tesla Model 3 sedans to be delivered over the following 14 months.

Polestar's rental-car deal could also push more buyers toward electric cars by showing them that Tesla, which has become synonymous with clean vehicles, is far from the only option on the market.

"Tesla is the go-to brand whenever anybody thinks of electric vehicles, but so many other manufacturers have excellent products out there," Fiorani said. "It can only help fuel the drive toward electric vehicles if more people experience a Ford Mach-E or a Rivian or a Polestar."

Polestar says its cars will be available through Hertz in Europe this spring, followed by North America and Australia later in 2022.