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

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

#311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Granted they're dumping the fleet with degraded battery packs before doing the 15k+ replacement, sure.

Where does this myth come from? Looks it's about 10% battery degradation after 200K miles. Tesla is rating their batteries for 300K to 500K miles. Most American company ICE cars are scrapped by then. Not to mention all the ICE related maintenance costs over that time like oil changes, transmission fluid, timing belts, hoses, etc. etc. You can look at 6 to 10 year Model S cars.

> Where does this myth come from?

Politics.

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

#312

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.

One of the reasons large rental companies self insure is so that they can do repairs in house without listing cars as salvaged. They make it back on resale I think I read this from car dealership guy.

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

#313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where does this myth come from? Looks it's about 10% battery degradation after 200K miles. Tesla is rating their batteries for 300K to 500K miles. Most American company ICE cars are scrapped by then. Not to mention all the ICE related maintenance costs over that time like oil changes, transmission fluid, timing belts, hoses, etc. etc. You can look at 6 to 10 year Model S cars.

It's not a myth at all, and Tesla's "rating" is a lie. Look at data on Prius battery packs and what Toyota rates them for(100-150k). I understand I'm comparing a hybrid to an EV, but there is much more data and I actually trust Toyota. Buying an EV with 100k miles and the original battery pack for 20k is a bad idea.

> I understand I'm comparing a hybrid to an EV

I don't think you do. Prius's have only recently started using lithium ion batteries, for one. And they cycle the small battery a lot faster than a BEV. Everything we've learned from hybrids suggests BEVs will get hundreds of thousands of miles from the battery (and so far, from the cars which haven driven that far, this has proven correct).

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

#314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like a lot of random complaints, from mobile apps to lane-keeping software. Not much seems specific to EVs, more just about new technologies. I guess you can rent a $20k Kia and avoid all the new tech.

If a brand popped up and offered a gasoline ICE with old toyota-level reliability and longevity, and without electronics (save for maybe bluetooth for some music) I'd pay a sizeable premium for it.

I'd like to think I would. I hope new buyers would.I would stick with used toyotas. I suspect the manufacturers know this and build accordingly.

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

#315
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…

> I'm going to avoid Hertz from here on out as much as possible.

This is good advice for everyone. Hertz is the company who likes to lose track of their cars and then call the police and report the car stolen by the person renting it. They're a truly shitty company, not worth the hassle.

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

#316
post #267

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…

where a car is salvaged, we must crystallize at once any difference between our carrying value and the market value of that car Hang on though, this part has nothing to do with repair costs. This just sounds like an accounting issue, right? If anything I would expect this to benefit Hertz since they could write off the higher loss in their taxes immediately, instead of waiting until future years to write the value of…

even if it were true, aren't they exacerbating the issue by "crystallizing" the loss on every single EV rather than just the ones that are salvaged? hardly seems like a reason to sell-all.

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

#317

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.

I had a mostly great experience with Hertz Polestar in Switzerland. Easy to drive, did well on the road.

The most painful part of the experience was attempting to charge it before returning it. Finding a compatible, working L3 charger was very difficult, even in Zurich and the experience of downloading an app to start the charging process was terrible. It of course, didn't accept my non-Swiss credit card and I had a get a local friend to help with the payment part.

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

#318
I rented Bolt EV from Hertz in San Jose airport. Returned it with full charge. The person receiving the car on return confused range with total miles driven and charged me for not returned the car above the charge level. I explained to him that he is reading odometer wrong but he was so adamant that I am wrong. I am sure Hertz didn't even train their customer facing staff with how EVes work.

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

#320

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 accidentally booked an electric vehicle a few weeks ago. I was halfway to looking up charging spots on Long Island when the guy at the Hertz counter offered me a Dodge Charger instead.

For the record, my hotel did not have charging spots, and the only ones I saw driving around were at the Broadway Commons Mall[0]. All of them looked full. I'm very skeptical of "charging infrastructure" being a prerequisite to suburban EV adoption - you have a house with a spare 220V circuit, right?[1] - but in this case my home is an eight story hotel building. Either it has chargers or I'm not renting an EV.

[0] Specifically, near the back next to the Round1 entrance.

Said mall also has an Avis/Budget office. No clue if the LIRR lets you carry luggage onboard, but if they do I probably should just take that instead of paying extra to rent at JFK...

[1] "My landlord won't let me plug in my car charger" is the usual response to this

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