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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

#291

Post by cyberax »

atkailash wrote: post #264
CharlieDigital wrote: post #183

Not sure about the economics for the rental companies, but for a consumer, there are practical reasons why electric aren't quite as attractive. When you rent a car, more than likely you will be in unfamiliar territory. So it seems that it just adds to the stress of travel and yet another thing you have to pay attention to. Will my hotel have charging spots? Will I be able to charge at the client site I'm visiting? Ho…

I don’t see how that’s different than needing to figure out gas station locations and not knowing how much you’ll use between points since you don’t know traffic or efficiency of that vehicle.

Realistically, unless you're in Manhattan or in the middle of nowhere, you're never more than 10-20 minutes away from a gas station.

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

#293

Post by switch007 »

bombcar wrote: post #79
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…

Rental agencies don't actually "rent specific cars" - they sell rentals at specific price points and fill those obligations with whatever they have laying around at the time. Which is why it's almost best to just rent the lowest, cheapest thing, because they'll give you whatever they have. This stops working when you need a particular aspect of whatever it is, especially if it's an aspect nobody really "cares" about…

They never seem to have enough small cars in Europe. I'm fed up of being 'upgraded' to a crossover/SUV. I think it's worse with eg Enterprise because their fleet tends to reflect what people own, because they do so much crash/repairs business. But it happens with most of them

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

#294

Post by maronato »

bombcar wrote: post #79
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…

Rental agencies don't actually "rent specific cars" - they sell rentals at specific price points and fill those obligations with whatever they have laying around at the time. Which is why it's almost best to just rent the lowest, cheapest thing, because they'll give you whatever they have. This stops working when you need a particular aspect of whatever it is, especially if it's an aspect nobody really "cares" about…

That’s true in most cases, but with Teslas and a few others they offer a “model guaranteed”.

See:

https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/vehicleguide/index.jsp?target...

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

#295

Post by afavour »

schainks wrote: post #277
t0mas88 wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The title says "EVs" but really it's "Teslas" they're not selling their Polestars.

Had an awesome experience with a Hertz Polestar in Italy last summer. The trim was basic, but the suspension was superior to a Tesla, especially on Italian roads. Road noise was average at highway speeds with the cheaper trim.

Agreed. Got a Polestar for a surprisingly cheap price on Hertz recently and I was really impressed with it. If I were in the market I think I’d take it over a Tesla.

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

#296

Post by dougmwne »

hangonhn wrote: post #280
1970-01-01 wrote: post #78

This is due to high body damage repair costs and has nothing to do with repairing an electric powertrain: >Let me share a bit more context on the damage equation. First, while conventional maintenance on electric vehicles remained lower relative to comparable ICE vehicles in Q3, higher collision and damage repairs on EVs continue to weigh on our results and negatively impacted EBITDA. For context, collision and damag…

Is there a reason why body damage on an EV would cost more to repair?

Yes, because the Model 3 incorporates quite a bit of aluminum in the body. This is good for weight savings, but more difficult to work with.

The root cause is that batteries are too heavy so other components must be made lighter.

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

#297

Post by mulmen »

CharlieDigital wrote: post #183

Not sure about the economics for the rental companies, but for a consumer, there are practical reasons why electric aren't quite as attractive. When you rent a car, more than likely you will be in unfamiliar territory. So it seems that it just adds to the stress of travel and yet another thing you have to pay attention to. Will my hotel have charging spots? Will I be able to charge at the client site I'm visiting? Ho…

I have rented several electric vehicles and while charging is more difficult than getting gas it isn’t really an issue.

The most challenging experience was an electric camper. It had a 100 mile max range. I drove it from LA to Seattle without major issue. The only pucker factor was around Silicon Valley where I struggled to find functional fast chargers. No shortage of chargers, just very few that work.

The state of chargers is atrocious. Many of them do not work and the apps are horrible. Signup flows that ask for too much information and don’t set form metadata for auto-completion. Just endless papercuts.

I used A Better Route Planner which does a good job of tracking what chargers actually work but still has an infuriating UI.

For a regular rental car situation I would not hesitate to get an EV. In fact that’s my preference now that I am over the learning curve.

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

#298

Post by throwaway_08932 »

cyberax wrote: post #284
nicoburns wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would imagine the difference would manifest itself in higher insurance rates. You can't just "write off more value" for free.

Hertz self-insures.

And that's why it really Hertz them.

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

#299

Post by rchaud »

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…

Maybe the rep suggested the gas car because you hadn't previously driven a Tesla, and by your own estimation, they were providing lower wait times and faster service for their gas fleet.

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

#300

Post by switch007 »

camhart wrote: post #236
aweijrawiej wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

While that's true, a guarantee like that is only as good as the penalties. There is no penalty for Hertz not giving you a specific model AFAIK. In reality with Hertz it means slighter-above-normal chance of getting that model.

Now if it were "exact model or your rental is free", that would be something to behold

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