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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

#611

Post by brnt »

b112 wrote: post #573
brnt wrote: post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Storage of H2 is a challenge in space and weight constrained devices such as cars. Plus, any well to wheels analysis shows H2 coming up behind the alternatives in efficiency. There aren't claims, these are physical constraints. For heavy vehicles such as trucks and busses (and trains) there might be a market, provided the H2 is an otherwise unused byproduct of some process and needn't be produced, but for the majorit…

Yet there are 3 separate car manufacturers, with h2 passenger vehicles, all with 500km+ range, all being sold for 1/2 a decade. Seems like it isn't a physical constraint?

I did some (academic) research in a group working on storage (tanks and metal hydrides), so yeah, I know why it's only 3 and they all did it 20 years ago. Sources for such into aren't private, but I have the feeling you've never looked at them.

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

#612

Post by callalex »

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?

It’s got nothing to do with being an EV and everything to do with Tesla requiring monopolized first party repairs where they dictate prices and refuse to sell parts to third party shops.

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

#613

Post by shawabawa3 »

jtriangle wrote: post #444
nox101 wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

In my experience in Europe they always advise you take the up-front tank as it's cheaper, and it's true you usually pay around 10% _less_ than most gas stations. However that's still only worth it if you manage to return the car with 10% of a tank remaining (which basically never happens)

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

#614

Post by light_hue_1 »

rdtsc wrote: post #564
kirse wrote: post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like rental cars are one of the worst places for the current generation of EVs. This was my recent experience. I was offered an EV car as a rental upgrade in a major city because the local rental place didn't have an EV charger. I figured what the hell because it was a relaxed holiday vacation. Turns out that was a hilariously bad idea. Ended up spending at least 5-6 hours of my week vacation trying to avoid t…

> Not a knock on EV's really, mostly the charging infrastructure and the rental experience. But why not knock on them? They had a lot of promise and a lot of hype when they were being touted as simpler and cheaper and just overall better. Somehow they ended up being more expensive, unless we're talking about Chinese brands, more costly to insure, a longer time to charge than a corresponding IC car and incompatible ch…

If you have a Tesla the charging story is wonderful.

The car finds chargers on it's own. It shows you exactly what's available at each charger. Hardly anything is ever broken.

EVs are far easier and more convenient than gas cars. It's the non Tesla infrastructure that just sucks.

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

#615

Post by arein3 »

tuatoru wrote: post #508
xwolfi wrote: post #502

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In France we had this big plan to swap batteries near instantly at the charging station, like we did with horses 300 years ago (but it's an old idea since electrical batteries were used to power vehicles everywhere), and tested it in Israel of all places with Renault... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place_(company) . Didn't work but maybe that's one idea ? Now if only we could standardize this...

The battery market is not yet mature enough for this. When the big car manufacturers have all had another decade's experience selling EVs, and battery tech has stabilized, the logic of standardization and swapping will become apparent.

Swapping batteries makes sense for scooters because they are not heavy, and it is done already in asia.

Swapping a battery that weighs a ton and is part of the car structure is another story completely.

I think the more sensible solution is to have fast charging and a reliable network. 800 volt batteries and a good architecture enable incredible fast charging, and in the fjture it might be even faster. Combine that with cars with a lot of range, ex. 400+ miles and a 30m stop once 300 miles doesn't sound bad at all.

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

#616

Post by robertlagrant »

brnt wrote: post #580
petre wrote: post #579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It only works with Teslas, forget the other ones. That's part of why the others have failed to deliver a useful EV: only Tesla has a reliable charging network. The others are reliant on half assed solutions made by third parties.

Im in Europe, so that doesnt matter. And even if they had then here top, they'd be useless to me, because Teslas are too large for me.

Maybe you'd be a 2025 Model 2[0] customer?

[0] https://www.whatcar.com/news/tesla-model-2/n25636

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

#617

Post by light_hue_1 »

rdtsc wrote: post #568
osullip wrote: post #503

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can stop half way and recharge? That is amazing!

Probably less amazing if it's a shady place in the middle of nowhere, with a dirty bathrooms, and shady characters roaming around asking for money. I don't see having to hanging out in some of those places for 30 minutes a positive experience. It's got it's excitement, but usually not the good kind of excitement.

I've been to countless superchargers in a good chuck of the country. I've never seen a shady one with anyone begging, dirty bathrooms, or anything similar. They're in reasonable places, mid to upscale, next to grocery stores, etc.

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

#618

Post by kybernetikos »

namdnay wrote: post #569
dcchambers wrote: post #453

Im bullish on EVs but I feel like rental cars are one of the worst places for the current generation of EVs. EVs are best for the types of driving we do on a day-to-day basis. Short commutes in areas we know well. Charge at home over night and 95% of the year you never worry about charging. Renting a car means I'm usually either driving long distances or im somewhere new and I don't know about the local charging infr…

I rented a polestar from hertz uk for a summer holiday, it was wonderful. i just let it charge overnight on the mains socket of the cottage, which gave me 200 miles a day, more than enough for a family holiday

I think the driving an EV experience is massively better if you can cheaply charge where you sleep.

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

#619

Post by [deleted] »

thatfrenchguy wrote: post #427
umeshunni wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Eh, you could just have used a Tesla Supercharger

[deleted]

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

#620

Post by light_hue_1 »

mulmen wrote: post #438
tempestn wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do tend to agree that a lot of peculiarities of Teslas are unnecessary and/or bad, but for what it's worth most of the ones you listed are less of an issue for a vehicle that you own. Unlocking with the phone is convenient, you tie seat memory to the user, and you learn the button functions. (Some aspects are still definitely stupid, like the intermittent wiper function, the auto high beams, and autopilot on anythi…

Yeah but the Tesla implementations of these features still suck. "You get used to it" is a shitty sales pitch. Basically any other car with these features has a better implementation. Tesla does it different but not better . It isn't a matter of familiarity, these designs are just bad . My 15 year old BMW: Has seat memory tied to the key. I don't have to fiddle with a menu to save the setting. It just... remembers. H…

They really don't suck. The Tesla UI is the best I've ever used in why car. They're unfamiliar to you.

The seat memory does remember. Not just for the physical key, but for your phone. You do nothing. If my wife gets in the car, it sets up the car for her. If I do, it sets it up for me. Neither of us touch anything, it's automatic depending on where our phones are.

The steering buttons aren't labeled for a reason! Because you can remap them. Which is awesome, because I can set them up exactly how I like them. I can put all the functionality you mentioned on the steering buttons.

It doesn't need an idrive button. It has voice. I don't look at the car to navigate. I tell it what I want. Same with other non critical functions.

It needs zero phone interactions. I walk to the car and open the door. That's it. I don't look at the phone. Don't wait. It just works. For every door and the trunk. You just never think about it.

The Tesla does all the things you listed vastly better. You just haven't learned to set them up and use them.

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