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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

#441

Post by 10u152 »

WorldMaker wrote: post #433
10u152 wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought Tesla's were low reliability across ALL vehicles (ICE included) but were the most reliable of all EV's? I guess it comes down to what "reliable" means. In my opinion if it has a failure but runs, drives, is safe and comfortable it's "reliable". For example I read lots of complaints about squeaks or rattles when music is played. I don't call that "unreliable"

> I thought Tesla's were low reliability across ALL vehicles (ICE included) but were the most reliable of all EV's? My impression is very much the other way around: EVs are more reliable across the board for all vehicles (especially over ICE; most of the categories of unreliability that ICE invented don't exist at all for most EVs; catalytic convertors, belts, transmissions, spark plugs, ...) and somehow Tesla has ma…

I agree they SHOULD be. But from what I can find online it's not the case.

ICE is more complicated - more moving parts - but manufacturers have had 100 years of experience building them.

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

#442

Post by rootusrootus »

pmontra wrote: post #341
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #339

I've owned a couple of EVs in my life, and I love them and would never go back to owning an ICE car. At the same time, I don't think I would ever want to rent an EV. Do I know that wherever I'm staying I'll be able to charge? Sure they said they had a charger but what if it's busted? Also, these days if I'm renting a car (as opposed to just Ubering) I'm usually going to use it quite a bit - having to deal with range…

So you never traveled with your EVs and used them only between places you either knew had a sure place to recharge or didn't have to because they were in range to come back home?

Not OP, but I'd say I feel similarly if the EV were non-Tesla. If it were a Tesla, in the continental US, I'd be totally fine renting it. Superchargers are all over the place. But I'd definitely try to find a hotel with a level 2 charger, because that's nearly as convenient as charging at home.

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

#443

Post by borissk »

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?

Tesla uses Giga Presses to build the body of some of their models. While lighter and stronger than a body build of smaller parts, it also makes impossible to repair damages by replacing some of the smaller parts.

Don't know if the Tesla cars owned by Hertz are built using a Giga Press.

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

#444

Post by jtriangle »

nox101 wrote: post #408
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 was told I need to return the car charged or I would be billed for "filling it up". I was confused why they couldn't charge at the airport and also explained that if I charge near my hotel it will likely not be 100% when I get to the airport. They couldn't say if that was ok. This is the same with gas cars. It's very frustrating because they're directly being dicks to their customers. You have 3 options 1. Bring…

In my experience, it's not always 1.5-2x the cost of a full tank to pay up front. The last time I rented, which was a couple years ago, it was only 10% more, well worth the potential BS, and I returned the car with like 10 miles remaining on the dash, no worries whatsoever.

That's not to say rental agencies don't universally suck, they certainly do, but, I wouldn't really say that's a major sticking point. Really the biggest problems seem to be them under-provisioning their fleets, and going after you for damage you didn't cause, both are far, far too common.

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

#445

Post by rktdno »

lend000 wrote: post #275
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…

Strongly recommend Turo. I tried it recently after a similarly terrible experience with Hertz. Never going to turn back to traditional car rental companies -- it's so much easier, saves you significant time, and is (sometimes) cheaper.

When Turo worked it was great for me. However, in my most recent experience with Turo my reservation was cancelled by the other party while I was mid-air and I landed with no car and no recourse and had to scramble. It was miserable, bad enough that I’ve gone back to renting Teslas from Hertz (where my experience has been in contrast to other anecdotes here—pretty seamless).

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

#446

Post by topkai22 »

kloch wrote: post #190

There is a massive disconnect between the attitudes toward EV's of people who have owned EV's and those who have not. Range anxiety tends to dissipate after a short time of real world driving experience. You're just not going to rent EV's to many non-owners, even if they are going to be driving less than 100 miles (typical business trip where you fly then rent a car).

I’m not an EV owner but plan to be one on my next purchase.

The EV renting experience is bad. I got one though Avis, I believe a Kia Niro. I was told that I’d be charged if I brought it back under 80%. It was at 81%. Ok fine, I’m driving less than 50 miles and returning it. I’ll find a charger, since my AirBNB didn’t have charger.

We tried to use the on board map to find a charging station. It took us two tries to find on that was actually public, which was at a fire station. It took over an hour to go from 70% to 85%.

I never had range anxiety about the car itself, but trying to return it full enough was anxiety inducing, even though it wasn’t that big a fee.

I feel my experience would have been really improved if 1) they made the fee be a sliding amount based on how close you returned it to where you checked out and 2) there was an onboard L1 charger you could use with a normal plug.

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

#447

Post by jtriangle »

rootusrootus wrote: post #310
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'd be reluctant to rent an EV at this point. But I own one, and I for sure won't ever being going back to gas. I can't see myself giving up the convenience, or paying $50 every week to fill it up. And only at special locations that stock gasoline. That's a hard sell.

Good on you, you're an early adopter of electric personal transport tech. We need people like you to tough it out until the R&D dollars yield something that's actually at feature parity with what already exists currently.

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

#448

Post by jtriangle »

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #405
rootusrootus wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be reluctant to rent an EV at this point. But I own one, and I for sure won't ever being going back to gas. I can't see myself giving up the convenience, or paying $50 every week to fill it up. And only at special locations that stock gasoline. That's a hard sell.

In the US, the Kroger grocery chain offers discounts on gasoline depending on how much you spend on groceries during the month. Wonder if at some point they'll start offering discounts on charging, especially if you're shopping while charging. When I had a Nissan Leaf, I used to charge at a Kroger halfway between home and the office, but that was a third party charger with no association with the store. It would have…

I think it's an eventuality that Gas stations pivot to charging stations in a tangible way. They already don't make much on fuel, so, provided they can get sufficient utility power, and a future exists where charging an EV is as fast as filling up a gas tank, they'll probably happily continue to exist selling snacks and drinks as they do now.

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

#449

Post by ralph84 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #117
houseatrielah wrote: post #114

CNBC did a better job than this low-density article. Why Hertz’s Bet On Tesla Isn’t Paying Off In The U.S. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfbkvUXTV_I "pricing troubles, skyrocketing repair costs and low resale value"... They turn their fleet over every 2-years or so, so resale value is important, and with prices of new EVs coming down, the resale value will be significantly lower than a new model.

> with prices of new EVs coming down Prices of new Teslas coming down. This is incredibly specific to Hertz's bet on Teslas.

New Mercedes-Benz EQ models can be easily had for 20-30% off MSRP. Yes, this is partially due to MB setting the MSRP unrealistically high, but it’s indicative of the broader market for EVs right now.

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

#450

Post by lend000 »

pxx wrote: post #338
lend000 wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strongly recommend Turo. I tried it recently after a similarly terrible experience with Hertz. Never going to turn back to traditional car rental companies -- it's so much easier, saves you significant time, and is (sometimes) cheaper.

I have never seen Turo be anywhere close to competitive. Are you comparing to rack rates or something? I'll take unlimited mileage and the lack of weird car rules any day, also. I don't understand the other convenience factors either -- car rental places tend to be located on-site at the airport or the train station? It's also a lemon market for customers. Turo gets all of the people who aren't qualified to rent at t…

As with all gig economy services, do your due diligence with the user ratings, etc. Whether it is cheaper depends on the area, but that definitely isn't the selling point for me. The selling point is not having to stand in line at the rental car terminal for 2 hours and then haggle with the person at the kiosk over what should have been a simple, pre-paid transaction.
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