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Hertz to sell 20k EVs in shift back to gas-powered cars

bloomberg.com

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Re: Hertz to sell 20k EVs in shift back to gas-powered cars

#21

Post by _ea1k »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #13
_ea1k wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An hour or two? Noone is hanging out around superchargers for that long if they don't already want to be there.

Sure, if you buy a new Tesla, it's pretty good now. But not everyone can afford a new EV. If you buy almost any EV on the used market, such as a used Tesla...

That still wouldn't be true for a used Tesla. Most used sales are Model 3 or Y. Both charge really well. Even older used Model S or X are more like 30 minutes than 2 hours, especially if the location is bad and you'd rather get to the next one.

Re: Hertz to sell 20k EVs in shift back to gas-powered cars

#22

Post by gnfargbl »

nytesky wrote: post #7
urdbjtdvbg wrote: post #2

I recently rented a car from Hertz. I knew I wouldn’t need more than a single full tank of gas for my trip (and if I underestimated I could just stop at a gas station). I wasn’t sure what might happen with the (cheaper!) Tesla. So I opted for the ICE vehicle. (Where could I charge it? The hotel? Do I need to find a super charger? Etc. Just more headache than I wanted on a vacation).

Literally made the same decision last night for a rental. I had no idea how to charge an electric car and did not want to have to deal with figuring it out on top of everything else. They charge you $25 if you return it not fully charged, which is bananas, because why couldn’t they just plug it in while they’re cleaning the car? It’s not like gas where they have to drive the car to a gas station.

Is that a $25 recharging fee, or $25 for the electricity? A full tank of electrons is around $25 equivalent in the UK. (I realise it's cheaper in most of the US.)

Re: Hertz to sell 20k EVs in shift back to gas-powered cars

#23

Post by bryanlarsen »

nytesky wrote: post #7
urdbjtdvbg wrote: post #2

I recently rented a car from Hertz. I knew I wouldn’t need more than a single full tank of gas for my trip (and if I underestimated I could just stop at a gas station). I wasn’t sure what might happen with the (cheaper!) Tesla. So I opted for the ICE vehicle. (Where could I charge it? The hotel? Do I need to find a super charger? Etc. Just more headache than I wanted on a vacation).

Literally made the same decision last night for a rental. I had no idea how to charge an electric car and did not want to have to deal with figuring it out on top of everything else. They charge you $25 if you return it not fully charged, which is bananas, because why couldn’t they just plug it in while they’re cleaning the car? It’s not like gas where they have to drive the car to a gas station.

You're likely going to spend more than $25 to put gasoline in your rental before returning it, and $25 is the approximate cost for a supercharger, so that charge seems very reasonable. You could have just taken the electric car and returned it empty.

Re: Hertz to sell 20k EVs in shift back to gas-powered cars

#25

Post by _ea1k »

cloudking wrote: post #18

I really enjoy Tesla vehicles, but I had a bad experience renting one from Budget. The cars require a Tesla account with a credit card attached in order to use Super Charging stations, which is managed by Budget and then they add the charging costs on to your bill at the end. Half way through the rental period the card they had attached expired, and I was locked out of using Super Chargers. I spent a long time on the…

Yeah, I remember being really excited about this at announcement. It made perfect sense too, as Tesla does really well on Turo!

But the rental companies overshot a bit. They didn't keep their processes and infrastructure up to pace with the number that they brought on.

It isn't shocking that caused some issues.

Re: Hertz to sell 20k EVs in shift back to gas-powered cars

#26

Post by steveBK123 »

Owning an EV in US is still something of an enthusiasts niche. I have been an owner almost 6 years.

Things that increase the riskiness - unfamiliar area, unfamiliar car, non Tesla, not knowing EVs.

So rental non-Tesla while on a vacation is probably the worst possible scenario.

Re: Hertz to sell 20k EVs in shift back to gas-powered cars

#28

Post by bryanlarsen »

_ea1k wrote: post #9
gjsman-1000 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems to be an extension of the biggest problem with EVs: The edge cases. Even if the edge case is only 1% of your travel, do you want to buy a car that can't do it? It can be anything . You're living in Minnesota and your dad in Chicago had a heart attack. An ICE can get you there in about ~7 hours. An EV... you're going to need 1 supercharging station at a minimum, probably 2. Or, you just decide you want a ro…

An hour or two? Noone is hanging out around superchargers for that long if they don't already want to be there.

You might be if you need to return the car at 100%, the last few percent of battery takes forever to charge due to chemistry. I don't know what Hertz requires, but returning it at 100% is stupid. It's hard on the battery and takes forever. Charging to 80% takes a lot less time and is easier on the battery, so hopefully that's all that Hertz requires.

Edit: a different commenter says you need to return at 75%. That's reasonable.

Re: Hertz to sell 20k EVs in shift back to gas-powered cars

#29

Post by thesimon »

nelsonic wrote: post #16

We recently went on vacation to Germany and rented a Polestar 2 from Hertz. The car was good but charging was infuriating. Had to download a new app for each charging spot and they didn't include a home-charging cable so we couldn't charge at family home we were visiting. Overall wouldn't recommend which is a huge shame. At home we drive a Tesla M3, charge at home from solar and supercharger network is flawless when…

Rented a Polestar 2 multiple times from Hertz in the summer. It included both a home-charging cable and a charging fob.

The Hertz charging fob is quite expensive though, cheaper to signup to something like EnBW, which you can use for almost all charging stations [0].

Supercharger in Germany are almost all open to third-party cars as well, though not as cheap as EnBW.

[0]: https://www.enbw.com/elektromobilitaet/produkte/ladetarife

Re: Hertz to sell 20k EVs in shift back to gas-powered cars

#30

Post by cycrutchfield »

I’m surprised to hear that people have had some anxiety about charging when renting Teslas from Hertz. My experience was quite the opposite. Just use any supercharger and it bills to Hertz who bills to you. The hotel valet had EV charging and charged the battery up all the way every night. The only confusing part was figuring out what charge level I needed to return the car at (I think it was 75%).

Otherwise it was great and I would love to rent a Tesla from Hertz again.

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