Hertz to sell 20k EVs in shift back to gas-powered cars • Hacker News Board

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

#231

Post by nunez » Thu, Jan 11, 2024, 9:01 PM UTC

r00fus wrote: post #14

Recently rented an EV (Nissan Leaf) from Enterprise - they were happy to upgrade me from my economy, but one catch - it was at 20% battery. Luckily the hotel we were staying at did have a charger (called ahead) free. Amusingly the rental place told me as we were returning the car that it had been sold in the interim. It's amazing to me how little effort these companies take to resolve the charging questions - there w…

love the time I rented from Avis and got assigned a Kia Niro EV with, not shitting you, EXACTLY ONE PERCENT capacity left! I wasn't sure if I could get it off the lot! I exchanged it for a Bolt that fared better. Love that car.

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

#232

Post by _ea1k » Thu, Jan 11, 2024, 9:03 PM UTC

nunez wrote: post #229

I have been almost exclusively renting electric cars since late 2022. This makes total sense. Tesla is very strict about their parts distribution. They will only send parts to authorized Tesla service centers, of which there aren't that many. This is extremely unfortunate for rental cars, as they get beat to absolute shit and are in a near constant state of repair. I've rented several Teslas from Hertz and Avis. Almo…

Also, with business travel, I generally haven't been allowed to expense fees to returning it with less than a full tank. With EVs, this would mean that I couldn't pay even a reasonable fee for this service.

That'd be enough to make me avoid them on business travel, even though I also tend to rent EVs when traveling for leisure.

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

#233

Post by ParacelsusOfEgg » Thu, Jan 11, 2024, 9:06 PM UTC

s0rce wrote: post #137

I rented a Tesla from Hertz once in Houston and the whole experience was terrible. Got to the counter and the agent first suggested that I take a gas car for $25/day. I was confused because that was so cheap, although the Tesla was already heavily discounted. Apparently, this was $25/day above what I had paid for the model 3 and it was for a compact economy car. I stuck with the Tesla. The agent warned me that repair…

I'm not sure that experience would have been any better if you had tried to rent a gas vehicle. I had almost the same experience as you (attempts at backwards up selling, poor communication about returning the car fueled up, and customers served in a random order), but with a gas vehicle in Denver in 2019 at a Hertz.

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

#234

Post by _ea1k » Thu, Jan 11, 2024, 9:07 PM UTC

Ekaros wrote: post #37

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…

I consider my probable edge case, driving to the capital for example airport there, 160km+something nearly all of it motorway so slightly worse range if I drive at legal limit. So I would like to get there in one go as being 2 hours early anyway is big time sink. And then when I'm coming back I just want to get to home not stop in middle to charge... Or I might want to do same with some client or relative there. Trai…

That sounds like an easy problem to solve, tbh. 100 miles and l1 at the airport. It'd be nice if they all installed at least a few rows of those.

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

#235

Post by _ea1k » Thu, Jan 11, 2024, 9:09 PM UTC

bryanlarsen wrote: post #32

ramesh31 wrote: post #24

Slightly OT, but used Teslas are dirt cheap these days (relatively) thanks to all the fleet sales. You can find a ~3 year old Model S off lease now for under $30k.

Less off topic if you buy those used Tesla's from Hertz for $14K: https://electrek.co/2024/01/10/tesla-model-3-hertz-cheap-use...

The bad thing is that you'll likely have to spend a few thousand to get them into decent shape. It sounds like the cheaper ones are pretty rough.

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

#236

Post by camhart » Thu, Jan 11, 2024, 9:15 PM UTC

aweijrawiej wrote: post #141

camhart wrote: post #75

I tried renting an EV from Hertz a couple months ago. I reserved a Model Y. They waited until the morning of to call me and tell me they didn't have one for me. Said they might have a model 3 (but not the model Y I reserved) 3-4 hours passed my reserved pickup time. I waited an hour or two, then found a model y on Turo that got the job done. Then Hertz tried to charged me for cancelling... they did fix that but I was…

Car rental companies generally don't guarantee specific models. Even if you select like a convertible Mustang, odds are they won't actually have it. They'll give you something that "meets or exceeds your reservation", like a chevy suburban. Turo is much better if you need a specific vehicle. In Alaska, Hawaii, and Utah I've rented 4WD vehicles when I needed 4WD. They almost all still say in the contract that you're n…

When renting Tesla's from Hertz its advertised as a guaranteed model.

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

#237

Post by kyleee » Thu, Jan 11, 2024, 9:16 PM UTC

stcredzero wrote: post #210

nosequel wrote: post #196

Interesting tidbit at the end. > Besides costing more to repair when they’re damaged in a crash, Scherr also said, EVs are also getting in more crashes. then > Our work with Tesla is to look at the performance of the car, so as to lower the risk of incidence of damage I'm curious if they are working with tesla to the performance? Are people getting into accidents because they aren't used to teslas' acceleration vs. a…

Are people getting into accidents because they aren't used to teslas' acceleration Most likely. Even the lowest end Tesla can scare the pants off of a passenger who has never been in an EV before. I know this from personal experience. An EV driver noob who stomps on the pedal has a chance of panicking and death-stomping on the pedal more.

Yeah I actually wish they offered a Tesla with about 1/3rd of the power and better range / smaller battery

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

#238

Post by smackeyacky » Thu, Jan 11, 2024, 9:17 PM UTC

smileysteve wrote: post #149

legitster wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SUVs are popular because of the death of car culture. Car enthusiasts still like small sedans with handling and looks and etc. But the average person just wants the biggest, most comfortable car they can get for the money. I had a millenial co-worker ask me why selling a 2-door car was even legal these days.

> But the average person just wants the biggest, most comfortable car They want the biggest, because it makes them feel comfortable, despite objective data and car parts that SUVs are more dangerous and less comfortable. One theory is that millennials have been taught that higher and bigger is better because of age related vision deterioration by their parents and it has now caught on. Anecdotally, I asked this line…

It's the long wheelbase and bigger wheels that have more impact on comfort than IRS vs. solid rear axles. A big vehicle just doesn't jiggle around as much which is surprisingly tiring when you are travelling.

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

#239

Post by Tommstein » Thu, Jan 11, 2024, 9:17 PM UTC

camhart wrote: post #75

I tried renting an EV from Hertz a couple months ago. I reserved a Model Y. They waited until the morning of to call me and tell me they didn't have one for me. Said they might have a model 3 (but not the model Y I reserved) 3-4 hours passed my reserved pickup time. I waited an hour or two, then found a model y on Turo that got the job done. Then Hertz tried to charged me for cancelling... they did fix that but I was…

At least they called you. I traveled a lot this last fall and pretty much always reserved a hybrid with Avis because I was going to drive long distances. What I actually got at the counter most of the time was "let me see if we have any hybrids available" followed by receiving some random car that was not, in fact, a hybrid (and often as far as you can get from a fuel-efficient hybrid, a regular gas SUV).

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

#240

Post by legitster » Thu, Jan 11, 2024, 9:19 PM UTC

asveikau wrote: post #228

legitster wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SUVs are popular because of the death of car culture. Car enthusiasts still like small sedans with handling and looks and etc. But the average person just wants the biggest, most comfortable car they can get for the money. I had a millenial co-worker ask me why selling a 2-door car was even legal these days.

I guess when I say car culture, I don't mean enthusiasts and tinkerers. I mean that general American culture is car-dependent. People think their car is very important and part of their identity. I see on social media all the time people say that lack of a car is a sign of struggle, that you haven't made it, that you can't be trusted. That sort of thing.

I don't necessarily love it as a characterization because Americans also have a love of huge refrigerators and couches and washing machines but no one says we have a refrigerator culture (even though it may be true). When you think about the number of boring base-level Corollas that get sold, it's hard to think of it as an identity thing.

I think a fairer description would be that American culture values space, personal property ownership, and independence. Car ownership is a means to an end.