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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

#321

Post by seattle_spring »

nerdawson wrote: post #307
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…

That's a shame. I hired a Tesla from them for 3 days in the UK and I was pretty happy overall. They were clear with me that I needed to return it with at least 80% charge or pay an extra fee for them to recharge it on my behalf.

That is such a backwards policy. I rented a Niro EV from Enterprise and they said I could literally return it with a 5% charge; they’d just plug it in and charge it overnight on site.

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

#322

Post by fsckboy »

I've been seeing a lot of headlines the last month about demand for EVs falling. Of course, it could just be a PR campaign by Big Fossil, I'm not in a position to judge that.

I had another idea about it and I'm wondering what other people think: by buying Twitter/X, Musk has waded deeply into the culture war, and we see on HN plenty of people who just can't stand to see his name. It seems a sizable community, could the supposed downward trend in the industry simply be a lot of refusal to buy Teslas? It would not necessarily reflect directly in Tesla sales because reduced demand for Teslas could be made up on margin by other undecided EV brand buyers seeing more availablity of Teslas and switching because they feel Tesla is an upgrade. In a like manner, some of the former Tesla buyers might not be willing to downgrade from a Tesla, so they hang on to their car longer, get a hybrid, etc.

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

#323

Post by aetherspawn »

nate wrote: post #319

Today I also learned, it's dangerous to rent from Hertz. https://www.npr.org/2022/12/06/1140998674/hertz-false-accusa... You might accidentally get arrested for stealing one of their cars. It apparently has happened thousands of times.

This is ridiculous, in Australia it takes a minimum of 2 years and 4-5 court hearings and escalations to get someone into jail. At each level they would have thrown this out and charged Hertz for wasting time.

(This is my personal experience of a straightforward theft case where I was the victim and the police actively wanted to get the person behind bars)

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

#324

Post by phinnaeus »

afavour wrote: post #295
schainks wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Ooof. I own a Model 3 and was really looking forward to my Polestar 2 rental in NZ over the holidays. It felt like a massive downgrade in pretty much every way to me. The biggest thing was the responsiveness, it was on par with a standard ICE vehicle in terms of how sluggish it was. I was incredibly disappointed given that I would love to look elsewhere (from Tesla) for my next vehicle.

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

#325

Post by DaveExeter »

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?

I suspect the main reason is because Tesla has a monopoly on replacement body parts.

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

#327

Post by ender341341 »

fsckboy wrote: post #322

I've been seeing a lot of headlines the last month about demand for EVs falling. Of course, it could just be a PR campaign by Big Fossil, I'm not in a position to judge that. I had another idea about it and I'm wondering what other people think: by buying Twitter/X, Musk has waded deeply into the culture war, and we see on HN plenty of people who just can't stand to see his name. It seems a sizable community, could t…

Other possible reasons

- We're in a recession (at least if you aren't upper middle class or above)

- Dealers are still acting like there's a supply shortage, so prices are still up but lots are full

- Everyone (pretty much) but tesla has commited to migrating to NACS, so if you buy a car now you'll need an adapter, and depending on where you are tesla's chargers are have half the speed if you're using the adapter (like if you're on a 800v based car)

- Gas prices seem less volatile at the moment (we'll see how much that stays as the election gets closer)

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

#328

Post by cyberax »

samketchup wrote: post #193
belltaco wrote: post #174

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.

There are multiple sites that track real-life Tesla battery degradation. It averages at 12% after 200k miles: https://insideevs.com/news/664106/tesla-battery-capacity-deg...

I have a Tesla, and I use it in the worst possible way for the battery: road trips with deep discharges and frequent 100% fast charges. I'm at 100k miles, and it degraded by 9%.

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

#329

Post by nicoburns »

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.

Oh, well in that case higher repair costs will hit them directly.

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

#330

Post by cyberax »

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…

> 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.

Hertz did it correctly, they use their account and just charge your credit card after your rental period is over. Just like they do with parking tickets or tolls.

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