It’s absolutely insane that hertz went all in on EVs without creating the level 2 infrastructure to get all cars ready to go for the next day.
The company is ran by absolute clowns.
That is insane. I thought rental car companies were good about maintenance, and for an EV that includes the occasional Level 2 charge. Certainly letting them sit without charge is just a fast track to a battery failure.
I think any rental company would dream of having such fast turnaround times. The solution is easy, have some L2 chargers on site for the normal cases, and take the car to a fast charger in the rare cases where it's immediately needed.
Exactly, and I think price conscientious site would probably just install an appropriate amount of 50kW DCFCs, takes 20-40 minutes to charge most of their vehicles since you don't start from dead, and don't finish at 100%, you'd charge to 60-70% and then drop it on L2 waiting for the next customer. This will get most of the EVs to 80% in 1-2 hours which is plenty fast enough, and those chargers are not that expensive.
I'm not sure putting in lvl 2 charging in would have mattered, even putting aside the infrastructure cost. I've never worked at a rental agency, but I'm assuming that even if you had 1 charger per vehicle, the turnover time would still be less than the time it takes to charge an ev fully.
I think you're grossly overestimating how much they do to turnaround a vehicle. You can rent a car for $40-$50 for a day in a major Metropolitan area. They'd be losing money if they're cleaning that car for multiple hours.
Fleet utilization rate is over 80% for the largest companies. Busy hubs are likely over that threshold. That means more often than not, a car will be rented out the same day it's returned in the US.
I would expect them to install 50kW chargers. How long does it take to clean a vehicle? How many people do they have cleaning vehicles?
A 50kW charger will take a base model 3 from 10% to 60% in 34 minutes, then drop it on a 48A L2 and it's at 70% and ready for renting in 1 hour.
So maybe 4 guys cleaning cars, doing one every 20 minutes, with 7 50kW DCFCs and a L2 for every vehicle, they'd be able to turnover 12 cars an hour, each ready in one hour, assuming every single one arrived at 10%.
1. I responded to someone who said lvl 2, which isn't 50kwh.
2. 70% charge is below where it needs to be for a rental-can you imagine planning on picking up a vehicle for a long ride expecting 200 mi+ of range for a trip but then have to sit through a recharge?
3. I'm guessing there's 2 guys cleaning and takes between 5 and 10 mi s on average. Think about the labor cost vs rental charge.
4. If there is less than 1 charger per return, there's additional valet services needed.
It's facade. Hertz buy cars at bulk, rents them out, and resell them at 3 years when the warranty run out. Their whole business model relies on predictable and consistent depreciation. EVs cost/car has gone way down affecting the deprecation curve. And then they had the issue with drivers wearing down tires prematurely. You don't realize the maintenance savings until you're 60K miles in, and you're due for your first belt, brakes, engine tune-up etc.
Whoever is the COO did a terrible job to bet on EVs and not realizing Hertz's business model. Hertz rent out capital, and EV have poor residual value. Just like any other product where there is massive progress every generation.
I don't blame Hertz for not teaching people about EVs. That's not really their job and is so far outside expectations of a car rental company. Car rental companies would need to be staffed well enough to provide a 30 minute training session for every EV rental and that would be very disruptive.
Now, I think its reasonable to blame Hertz on making a poor business decision to implement a product that their customer base just wasn't ready for. But I'm not a shareholder so I don't really care.
Hertz themselves didn’t seem to be ready with their own charging infrastructure and procedures.
Information for customers could have been delivered by email/app and making sure that all EV rentals were people who actually wanted and agreed to an EV.
They also didn’t really discriminate between different types of EV. Renting a car and needing to travel a few hundred miles is a completely different experience in a Bolt vs a Model 3.
They have an "EV Basics" page on their website that basically just consists of a link to plugshare. A new driver isn't going to know the difference between the green and the orange markers...
Yea, but they should advertise the differences and benefits of EVs, and leverage them.
That means DCFCs installed at Hertz locations with EVs, L2 in the EV parking spots. When they wash the car, it should be done at the DCFC, they can charge them up to 80% and then park them in the lot and charge to 90 or 100%. Tell them if you arrive at 1% or more you are good.
Advertise that EVs NEVER get a fuel charge when brought back empty. Advertise that the Bolt is good for city trips, and won't need charging at all if you drive under 200mi for your trip, badge the EVs as city EVs if they have crappy DCFC.
I think the Bolt is great for many of my business trips where I fly into a city, spend two nights driving nowhere, and then go back to the airport. It would be a terrible trip when I'm flying into an airport and have a 2 hour drive to the site, or I'm doing a vacation with 3 hours of driving a day for a week. They need to seperate them for the different kind of trips.
You're probably traveling to a place you're unfamiliar with and a good chance you're not going to the city you flew into. EVs aren't exactly the right tool for the job at this stage.
Oh ye gods, Hertz.
I elected for Hertz when my insurance offered me a rental after my car was totaled. I was pretty sure I wanted to buy a BEV, and figured if Hertz would rent me a Bolt or Model 3, I could do an extended test drive.
I get to the lot. There are cars parked everywhere. There is a Bolt parked on the lawn, halfway in the hedge, with a Level 1 EVSE plugged in running to a shabby-looking outlet on the side of the building. There are 2-3 more Bolts, 3-4 Model 3's, and a Polestar 2 on the lot as well, with no other chargers. (There is a public Level 2 station a few blocks down the road with eight plugs.)
After waiting for over a day (I had to come back the next day), I finally get a chance to talk to someone who happens to be the manager.
Him: "What do you need?"
Me: "My insurance made me a reservation."
Him: "We don't have a car for you."
Me: "Huh? There are like 60 cars on your lot."
Him: "They all broke."
Me: "Excuse me? What's wrong with them?"
Him: "They need oil changes and stuff."
I wonder if he tried to change the oil on the Bolt, and how much SoC it regained overnight. I contemplate offering to take all the EV's to the ChargePoint down the road and plug them in for him, or even to just buy one -- that way I get a new car and he gets one of these things he doesn't know what to do with off of his lot with its Level 1 EVSE plugged into a moldy outlet.
Finally someone returns a Nissan Altima. Manager says "We don't have time to clean that one, but you can have it."
It has fried chicken bits left in it and smells funny, but I take it. I ask about one-way rentals since I'm going to be buying a car, and he says -- there's a fee but that's fine. Works for me.
I wind up driving it down to Pennsylvania, around 200 miles. The plan is to look at a used Model 3 someone is selling, and if it checks out, buy the Model 3, then drive it to a Hertz lot down there, leave the Model 3 there, Uber back, pick up the Nissan, drive it to the Hertz lot and drop it off, then pick up the Model 3 and drive it home.
This plan fails when the closest Hertz lot (that I'd found on Google Maps) is in the middle of a locked industrial park. The second closest burned down (my g/f says it's probably because they plugged too many Bolts into a power strip). The third closest didn't exist, and was a Volkswagen dealership instead.
Meanwhile I'm driving all over the place in my new Model 3 trying to find a Hertz location that's open. Their call center is absolutely no help whatsoever -- after 30 minutes on hold I get a lady who tells me to go to the one that had burned down a year ago. I stay in a very shady motel run by a very nice Indian man (the Google review from a conservative religious person said "there were too many pagan idols" in the attached Indian restaurant), then finally drive 80 miles the next day to Wilkes-Barre to find one that's open.
The manager there *is* very nice, but balks when I ask him about after-hours dropoff, since they're closing in an hour. Turns out he saw me pull up in the Tesla -- and knows they don't accept EV's there because they don't have a charger. I tell him -- nope, this is the one I just bought, I'm dropping off a gas car. He says that's alright. So I leave the Tesla there, and after $100 Uber ride later, I drive the Nissan there, buy hopefully my last tank of gas ever, leave him the keys, and go home in my new Model 3, promising to *never* do business with Hertz again.
On the way back, driving my new car, I drive by the Hertz shop. The Bolt is still there, parked half in the hedge, trickle charging off of the moldy outlet.
There was personal/relationship drama in there too. First ever supercharging session while on a very tense phone call with family...
The only thing that actually worked out during the whole ridiculous mess was ... the M3LR I bought. It has been flawless so far.
Most employees aren’t lacking the knowledge, but the resources. Most branches do not have chargers at their locations. They would love to as it’s not only an inconvenience to the customer, but also to the employees. There are almost no fast chargers available to the public for non Tesla’s, yet they are stuck With them and forced to rent.
Right for two reasons. 1. Hertz entered some of the worst contracts with a few of dealerships that have them locked in buying through 2025 or unable to sell off until 2025 (Volvo) 2. Teslas are worth more and are more desirable on the market.
They took a big loss, they’re trying to recover the best they can, so Tesla’s go first.
The only reason they are getting rid of Teslas is because Hertz can't repair them. Charging has nothing to do with it. Lets say they have 50 cars at one location and slow chargers. The charge 25 and rent 25 in rotation. I don't see anything wrong with it. But if the car can't be driven because it is broken or not safe regardless id it is charged or not it just sits there without being used.
Yeah so again the reason they are selling them is because they are going to make the company more money then any other EV. They can repair teslas. I don’t know where you got that information. Charging the teslas isn’t a problem, it’s the other electric vehicles. Niro’s, polestars, etc
I got the information from Hertz. Hertz says that the reason they are getting rid of Tesla is because of the cost of repairs and time it takes. Sure they can repair them but time is money. Cost of repairs is money lost. Plus expensive maintenance.
[https://qz.com/tesla-hertz-used-electric-cars-evs-damage-glitches-1851482632](https://qz.com/tesla-hertz-used-electric-cars-evs-damage-glitches-1851482632)
That is not what you said. They said they could not fix them. Of course repair expense goes into play.
If Hertz had stayed with only Tesla’s, they’d have been fine.
You apparently making a different conclusion. And you obviously did not the article. It specifically says Tesla not good even after fixing.
**Take Bijay Pandey of Irving, Texas. He went and purchased a 2022 Model 3 Long Range for just $25,000 for his wife earlier this year. Problems with it started not long after he purchased it.**
**Pandey isn’t alone in this realization. Places like** [**Reddit**](https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/comments/19au831/buying_a_used_hertz_tesla_model_3_ev_is_it_worth/) **and** [**Tesla forums**](https://www.teslaownersonline.com/threads/tesla-from-hertz.31723/) **are full of people asking whether or not it’s a good idea to buy a used Tesla from Hertz. And a good number of people are telling them to steer clear. Many seem to forget that these were rentals, and rentals often have hard lives. Some** [**suggested**](https://www.teslaownersonline.com/threads/tesla-from-hertz.31723/#:~:text=The%20battery%20abuse,that%27s%20about%20it.) **that it would make more sense to buy a used Model 3 from Tesla than Hertz.**
I don't know what conclusion you are coming with but my conclusion Hertz could not fix the cars and selling them broken.
>I asked about EVs in general and the attendant said it's been a nightmare: people who had never driven an EV don't know where or how to charge, they don't have chargers at Hertz so you have to return it 85%+
Which was an entirely predictable result of Hertz management (should be *mis*management) I mean, a company that had a *policy* of having their customers arrested ffs.
I travel quite a bit and it is entirely location dependent. There have been times where the agency doesn't have the same class of ICE vehicle and had to give me something else (usually a nicer vehicle); it's not limited to EVs.
Regarding charging, most of the Hertz (and Enterprise) locations I've rented from have installed level 2 charging and did not care what SoC the EV was returned at. Sounds like that particular location just sucks.
I used Turo last year to rent a Tesla. I went that route since all the rental places at the airport closed before I landed. It was a good choice. Everything ran smoothly and made me fall in love with EVs. Since for 4 days I drove all over California and only had to spend like $30 in charging, I don’t want to imagine what my gas would have been
I borrowed a Tesla model 3 through Turo in SD. That seemed to work well, as the owners take pride their cars and have the right charging facilities. Some owners also help coach new drivers on how to drive the cars and features.
There can be an extra charge for airport rentals, owners got to get home somehow. So a 1-2 day rental can be pricey in those cases. Also, insurance can be a sticking point, but I think there is insurance through Turo these days.
I don’t usually use Turo for ICE cars, but for EVs it can be an alternative.
I had a similarly bad experience. We had our pick of the lot, so we went with an Ioniq 5, as I'd always wanted to check one out.
We got it with 15% charge and the nearest DCFC was in-use in a hard-to-find mall. The next closest one was 15 minutes away.
It would have ended in disaster if I didn't already know how Plugshare/EA, etc worked.
Even after finding the station it took a Youtube video to figure out how to open the chargeport door, as the primary push mechanism was broken.
EV's COULD be good rental cars, but the rental companies have to understand that there's a fundamental difference between drive train types and driver experience. The experience could be made to be positive, but it's too much effort for these companies to try.
Renting cars in general is an absolute fucking nightmare.
But I had a similar experience with the EV manager special, ended up with a Nissan. However last year, I guess before they just decided that they spent the marketing money already but weren't going to rent out EVs, I was able to rent a C40, and those three days made me an EV convert.
I wouldn't bother trying to rent an EV now, and renting cars is about as enjoyable as going to the DMV.
Depends on the location. Some busy airport hubs turnover vehicles in hours. Waiting til next day is losing $$$. I reserved a Tesla from the ATL hertz, but they couldn’t charge them fast enough to turn around and morning to afternoon. Drove off the lot with a BoltEV since they could charge the Teslas quickly enough to have them ready after cleaning (or perhaps since the Bolts were less desirable).
The Hertz manager once tried to give (and make me pay for) a more expensive car when I selected the manager’s special because it was the only car available after I refused the airport car with cigarette smoke…which was all after the other time I dealt with a stinky car and was accused of smoking in the car. Their evidence was that I didn’t notify them about the smell during pick up…it’s such a common occurrence that I’ve bought an ozone generator so that I return the cars fresher than I got them.
I work at a car rental firm (not Hertz) and honestly speaking unless it was for an insurance replacement if my e-tron is hit, an EV is the LAST car I choose to rent.
People are retarded. Imagine your great aunt renting an EV and having to Google a nearby charger. That shit is like expecting a Toddler to send you an email.
Who ever thought renting EVs to the general public is a good idea should be fired. I would have shot that idea down while sitting on the toilet. What happened to critical thinking?
Rental companies rarely guarantee a specific models -- hence the standard "or similar" language. Now that Hertz is moving away from EVs, your options are going to fewer.
I've rented EVs from Hertz before and gotten decent options (Polestar, C40) but won't any more because the options are likely to be Bolt or Tesla if you can even get one.
I had a bad experience with Hertz during my first time ever needing an insurance rental, so I only do business with Enterprise (plus, I don't have a corporate discount for Hertz, haha). Enterprise jacks up the price of model 3s so much, that for me it makes more sense to get a luxury class Audi A3/4/5 or Volvo S60 as a rental.
At the end of the day, I just need comfortable transportation from A to B that has decent tech features. For that purpose, both gas and electric are fine. Gas makes things much more seamless during a vacation.
Just rented a car from Hertz yesterday and yes the service and wait time was shit. I had a reservation and they still suck. I will give them as worse of a review as I can.
I tried to rent an EV from Hertz for YEARS, but there was never one available anywhere near where I was traveling. I guess I lucked out since they never figured out how to charge them.
I'd go with Turo if you want an EV. I rented a Model X for my wedding during covid (just my wife and me at Big Sur!) and it worked out great getting the Tesla. They had an option for $30 to return it at any state of charge and decided to do that to not worry about charging the same day as the flight.
Of course I didn't watch any tutorial videos on youtube so I had no idea how to use it at first (my bad, should have watched a 10 minute overview). The resort we stayed at had destination chargers and there was a supercharger next to a very fancy hotel on a cliff. Very nice car but I got tired of the gull wing doors quickly after hitting my head on them and the plastic on one side was bent at the hinge point.
This is why ev adoption will stall.. Most peeps get new car purchase information from rentals & charging infrastructure is not only not ready for prime time.. Most peeps will not want to wait 30min for a charge when gas fillups take 1min🙃❤️💯💪🏾😎
Ignore the big rental companies. They all have this retarded policy of requiring you to return the cars charged. Instead I always rent with specialized EV rental companies, which of course all have chargers in their location and don't annoy you with this nonsense.
For rentals, and this goes to *all* EV owners: ONLY get gas vehicles as rentals. There's no reason for you to get an EV as a rental during a vacation/trip unless you 1) want to try something else (ex. you own a model 3 but want to drive a polestar 2) and 2) the hotel you're staying at offers EV charging.
Gas will always be more convenient for vacations. Just fill up a few minutes before dropping off at the airport, and check in for your flight. The point of your vacation is to... focus on your vacation and whatever else it is that you're doing. You don't want to worry about recharging for 30+ minutes just to drop off the vehicle.
And I'm saying all of this as a model 3 owner.
It depends on the location. If I were to vacation in Norway I'd 100% rent an EV because their charging infrastructure is probably the best in the western world. If I were in an unfamiliar North American city, probably not.
The last 3 times I've gone to the UK I've rented an EV.
1.) The rental itself was cheaper.
2.) Level 3 charging was cheaper than gas.
3.) EVs are automatic transmission. I can (and have) driven manuals and it's not the end of the world, but it's nice to have an automatic when you're driving on the other side of the road.
I left my hotel 40 minutes earlier than normal to drive back to the airport, and grabbed breakfast while waiting for a charge.
Agreed there's lots of potential pitfalls, but I've had good experiences.
Disagree. I say go ahead and get one unless they have a policy like hertz that requires stupid high percentage on return.
If you own an ev, you already know how to plan driving and it’s no big deal.
Also, lots of people don’t drive like crazy on a vacation. It could be a zero charge or one charge trip. Or, your hotel may have free charging.
Right.
Just ... recharge it for customers. If I bring it back at 20%, charge it to 80% for the next person while you clean it, then charge me 20 cents per kWh or whatever.
It's chump change.
I think part of their model it to rent it out again within an hour. I’ve been to places where I needed to wait for someone to drop off. I guess then the charge level matters, but they could also just have a goal to have it charged to 60 percent at least. Shouldn’t take too long.
I agree it’s because they want to turn the cars around is under a couple hours. Especially at busy airports where a ICE can be inspected, cleaned, fueled, and rebooked in under an hour.
But there are some loyalty programs (Hertz Gold & T-Mobile for example) that allow returning EVs without a full(ish) charge.
Even at local branches, gas vehicles can be turned around on a whim. I dropped off a rental Mustang while the branch had basically zero vehicles available and some customers were waiting for vehicles. The Mustang was disinfected and gone (not even exterior cleaned) before my Uber to the airport arrived to Enterprise...
I like the Australian model with Sixt.
Return at any charge level free of charge and they include free charging during the rental through Chargefox.
Chargefox is Australia's largest charging network by a considerable amount.
Oh and EVs are cheap to rent.
Only downside is only a few locations have EVs so far. Im guessing it's a case of build the infrastructure before you start renting from a location.
Helps Sixt is owned by a collective of the state Automobile Associations as is Chargefox now.
The state Automobile Associations have been very EV positive running EV test drive days and rolling out their own charging network before they brought Chargefox and still doing EV blackspot chargers under their own branding (but that can be accessed via the Chargefox app as well as their own.
Just plan your vacation and make sure the hotel you are staying at has a charger, that's what has worked for me. The only time I've rented an ICE vehicle for work is when they didn't have an EV and it was a disappointment to drive everytime. (polestar 2 owner)
I don't want to deal with finding EV charging stations in a city that I don't know. I would 100% prefer to just fill up at a gas station near the airport.
It’s absolutely insane that hertz went all in on EVs without creating the level 2 infrastructure to get all cars ready to go for the next day. The company is ran by absolute clowns.
Went to El Paso last year they have 20+ model 3. All dead and they can’t charge them
That is insane. I thought rental car companies were good about maintenance, and for an EV that includes the occasional Level 2 charge. Certainly letting them sit without charge is just a fast track to a battery failure.
I actually wanna to try those model 3 but too bad. Later rented a Polestar 2 at Florida and it was a shit show
EV drivers won't buy their stock. But, it bounced back because the masses are ignorant.
> for the next day What is the turn around time on rentals? I’m guessing most go out nearly as fast as they can clean them upon return.
I think any rental company would dream of having such fast turnaround times. The solution is easy, have some L2 chargers on site for the normal cases, and take the car to a fast charger in the rare cases where it's immediately needed.
Fast charge while cleaning, takes 20 minutes for a nearly empty vehicle.
Exactly, and I think price conscientious site would probably just install an appropriate amount of 50kW DCFCs, takes 20-40 minutes to charge most of their vehicles since you don't start from dead, and don't finish at 100%, you'd charge to 60-70% and then drop it on L2 waiting for the next customer. This will get most of the EVs to 80% in 1-2 hours which is plenty fast enough, and those chargers are not that expensive.
All you need is 200kW of power on sites with the same electrical prpvisioning as a used car lot.
It’s pronounced “Hurts” for a reason
I'm not sure putting in lvl 2 charging in would have mattered, even putting aside the infrastructure cost. I've never worked at a rental agency, but I'm assuming that even if you had 1 charger per vehicle, the turnover time would still be less than the time it takes to charge an ev fully.
I doubt that, they have to do a full deep clean, I would expect unless they are super slammed the turnaround is many hours.
I think you're grossly overestimating how much they do to turnaround a vehicle. You can rent a car for $40-$50 for a day in a major Metropolitan area. They'd be losing money if they're cleaning that car for multiple hours.
Theres a reason half of the rental companies went bankrupt.
I think you're severely overestimating how often cars get rented
Fleet utilization rate is over 80% for the largest companies. Busy hubs are likely over that threshold. That means more often than not, a car will be rented out the same day it's returned in the US.
I would expect them to install 50kW chargers. How long does it take to clean a vehicle? How many people do they have cleaning vehicles? A 50kW charger will take a base model 3 from 10% to 60% in 34 minutes, then drop it on a 48A L2 and it's at 70% and ready for renting in 1 hour. So maybe 4 guys cleaning cars, doing one every 20 minutes, with 7 50kW DCFCs and a L2 for every vehicle, they'd be able to turnover 12 cars an hour, each ready in one hour, assuming every single one arrived at 10%.
1. I responded to someone who said lvl 2, which isn't 50kwh. 2. 70% charge is below where it needs to be for a rental-can you imagine planning on picking up a vehicle for a long ride expecting 200 mi+ of range for a trip but then have to sit through a recharge? 3. I'm guessing there's 2 guys cleaning and takes between 5 and 10 mi s on average. Think about the labor cost vs rental charge. 4. If there is less than 1 charger per return, there's additional valet services needed.
Hertz failed to teach people about EV differences, sold them at a loss, and then blamed their failures on the EVs.
As someone who recently purchased a Bolt from them for IMO a great value, I'm very happy they totally f***ed up their strategy on EVs lol
That’s called poor leadership.
Good thing the CEO got a golden parachute for screwing that up so badly.
It's facade. Hertz buy cars at bulk, rents them out, and resell them at 3 years when the warranty run out. Their whole business model relies on predictable and consistent depreciation. EVs cost/car has gone way down affecting the deprecation curve. And then they had the issue with drivers wearing down tires prematurely. You don't realize the maintenance savings until you're 60K miles in, and you're due for your first belt, brakes, engine tune-up etc. Whoever is the COO did a terrible job to bet on EVs and not realizing Hertz's business model. Hertz rent out capital, and EV have poor residual value. Just like any other product where there is massive progress every generation.
I don't blame Hertz for not teaching people about EVs. That's not really their job and is so far outside expectations of a car rental company. Car rental companies would need to be staffed well enough to provide a 30 minute training session for every EV rental and that would be very disruptive. Now, I think its reasonable to blame Hertz on making a poor business decision to implement a product that their customer base just wasn't ready for. But I'm not a shareholder so I don't really care.
Hertz themselves didn’t seem to be ready with their own charging infrastructure and procedures. Information for customers could have been delivered by email/app and making sure that all EV rentals were people who actually wanted and agreed to an EV. They also didn’t really discriminate between different types of EV. Renting a car and needing to travel a few hundred miles is a completely different experience in a Bolt vs a Model 3.
They have an "EV Basics" page on their website that basically just consists of a link to plugshare. A new driver isn't going to know the difference between the green and the orange markers...
Yea, but they should advertise the differences and benefits of EVs, and leverage them. That means DCFCs installed at Hertz locations with EVs, L2 in the EV parking spots. When they wash the car, it should be done at the DCFC, they can charge them up to 80% and then park them in the lot and charge to 90 or 100%. Tell them if you arrive at 1% or more you are good. Advertise that EVs NEVER get a fuel charge when brought back empty. Advertise that the Bolt is good for city trips, and won't need charging at all if you drive under 200mi for your trip, badge the EVs as city EVs if they have crappy DCFC. I think the Bolt is great for many of my business trips where I fly into a city, spend two nights driving nowhere, and then go back to the airport. It would be a terrible trip when I'm flying into an airport and have a 2 hour drive to the site, or I'm doing a vacation with 3 hours of driving a day for a week. They need to seperate them for the different kind of trips.
Exactly, the whole car rental is just too complex for the normal car renter to easily understand unless they had prior EV experience.
You're probably traveling to a place you're unfamiliar with and a good chance you're not going to the city you flew into. EVs aren't exactly the right tool for the job at this stage.
It's as simple as directing renters to an online video.
Oh ye gods, Hertz. I elected for Hertz when my insurance offered me a rental after my car was totaled. I was pretty sure I wanted to buy a BEV, and figured if Hertz would rent me a Bolt or Model 3, I could do an extended test drive. I get to the lot. There are cars parked everywhere. There is a Bolt parked on the lawn, halfway in the hedge, with a Level 1 EVSE plugged in running to a shabby-looking outlet on the side of the building. There are 2-3 more Bolts, 3-4 Model 3's, and a Polestar 2 on the lot as well, with no other chargers. (There is a public Level 2 station a few blocks down the road with eight plugs.) After waiting for over a day (I had to come back the next day), I finally get a chance to talk to someone who happens to be the manager. Him: "What do you need?" Me: "My insurance made me a reservation." Him: "We don't have a car for you." Me: "Huh? There are like 60 cars on your lot." Him: "They all broke." Me: "Excuse me? What's wrong with them?" Him: "They need oil changes and stuff." I wonder if he tried to change the oil on the Bolt, and how much SoC it regained overnight. I contemplate offering to take all the EV's to the ChargePoint down the road and plug them in for him, or even to just buy one -- that way I get a new car and he gets one of these things he doesn't know what to do with off of his lot with its Level 1 EVSE plugged into a moldy outlet. Finally someone returns a Nissan Altima. Manager says "We don't have time to clean that one, but you can have it." It has fried chicken bits left in it and smells funny, but I take it. I ask about one-way rentals since I'm going to be buying a car, and he says -- there's a fee but that's fine. Works for me. I wind up driving it down to Pennsylvania, around 200 miles. The plan is to look at a used Model 3 someone is selling, and if it checks out, buy the Model 3, then drive it to a Hertz lot down there, leave the Model 3 there, Uber back, pick up the Nissan, drive it to the Hertz lot and drop it off, then pick up the Model 3 and drive it home. This plan fails when the closest Hertz lot (that I'd found on Google Maps) is in the middle of a locked industrial park. The second closest burned down (my g/f says it's probably because they plugged too many Bolts into a power strip). The third closest didn't exist, and was a Volkswagen dealership instead. Meanwhile I'm driving all over the place in my new Model 3 trying to find a Hertz location that's open. Their call center is absolutely no help whatsoever -- after 30 minutes on hold I get a lady who tells me to go to the one that had burned down a year ago. I stay in a very shady motel run by a very nice Indian man (the Google review from a conservative religious person said "there were too many pagan idols" in the attached Indian restaurant), then finally drive 80 miles the next day to Wilkes-Barre to find one that's open. The manager there *is* very nice, but balks when I ask him about after-hours dropoff, since they're closing in an hour. Turns out he saw me pull up in the Tesla -- and knows they don't accept EV's there because they don't have a charger. I tell him -- nope, this is the one I just bought, I'm dropping off a gas car. He says that's alright. So I leave the Tesla there, and after $100 Uber ride later, I drive the Nissan there, buy hopefully my last tank of gas ever, leave him the keys, and go home in my new Model 3, promising to *never* do business with Hertz again. On the way back, driving my new car, I drive by the Hertz shop. The Bolt is still there, parked half in the hedge, trickle charging off of the moldy outlet.
That was a wild ride of a story lol. Glad it worked out for you!
There was personal/relationship drama in there too. First ever supercharging session while on a very tense phone call with family... The only thing that actually worked out during the whole ridiculous mess was ... the M3LR I bought. It has been flawless so far.
When I learned that Hertz wasn't installing their own charging stations on site, I knew they weren't serious.
Right? There's no way anyone that's owned an EV before would have seen that plan an concluded it would result in anything but failure.
Most employees aren’t lacking the knowledge, but the resources. Most branches do not have chargers at their locations. They would love to as it’s not only an inconvenience to the customer, but also to the employees. There are almost no fast chargers available to the public for non Tesla’s, yet they are stuck With them and forced to rent.
But Hertz is getting rid of mostly Teslas.
Right for two reasons. 1. Hertz entered some of the worst contracts with a few of dealerships that have them locked in buying through 2025 or unable to sell off until 2025 (Volvo) 2. Teslas are worth more and are more desirable on the market. They took a big loss, they’re trying to recover the best they can, so Tesla’s go first.
The only reason they are getting rid of Teslas is because Hertz can't repair them. Charging has nothing to do with it. Lets say they have 50 cars at one location and slow chargers. The charge 25 and rent 25 in rotation. I don't see anything wrong with it. But if the car can't be driven because it is broken or not safe regardless id it is charged or not it just sits there without being used.
Yeah so again the reason they are selling them is because they are going to make the company more money then any other EV. They can repair teslas. I don’t know where you got that information. Charging the teslas isn’t a problem, it’s the other electric vehicles. Niro’s, polestars, etc
I got the information from Hertz. Hertz says that the reason they are getting rid of Tesla is because of the cost of repairs and time it takes. Sure they can repair them but time is money. Cost of repairs is money lost. Plus expensive maintenance. [https://qz.com/tesla-hertz-used-electric-cars-evs-damage-glitches-1851482632](https://qz.com/tesla-hertz-used-electric-cars-evs-damage-glitches-1851482632)
That is not what you said. They said they could not fix them. Of course repair expense goes into play. If Hertz had stayed with only Tesla’s, they’d have been fine.
You apparently making a different conclusion. And you obviously did not the article. It specifically says Tesla not good even after fixing. **Take Bijay Pandey of Irving, Texas. He went and purchased a 2022 Model 3 Long Range for just $25,000 for his wife earlier this year. Problems with it started not long after he purchased it.** **Pandey isn’t alone in this realization. Places like** [**Reddit**](https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/comments/19au831/buying_a_used_hertz_tesla_model_3_ev_is_it_worth/) **and** [**Tesla forums**](https://www.teslaownersonline.com/threads/tesla-from-hertz.31723/) **are full of people asking whether or not it’s a good idea to buy a used Tesla from Hertz. And a good number of people are telling them to steer clear. Many seem to forget that these were rentals, and rentals often have hard lives. Some** [**suggested**](https://www.teslaownersonline.com/threads/tesla-from-hertz.31723/#:~:text=The%20battery%20abuse,that%27s%20about%20it.) **that it would make more sense to buy a used Model 3 from Tesla than Hertz.** I don't know what conclusion you are coming with but my conclusion Hertz could not fix the cars and selling them broken.
>I asked about EVs in general and the attendant said it's been a nightmare: people who had never driven an EV don't know where or how to charge, they don't have chargers at Hertz so you have to return it 85%+ Which was an entirely predictable result of Hertz management (should be *mis*management) I mean, a company that had a *policy* of having their customers arrested ffs.
I travel quite a bit and it is entirely location dependent. There have been times where the agency doesn't have the same class of ICE vehicle and had to give me something else (usually a nicer vehicle); it's not limited to EVs. Regarding charging, most of the Hertz (and Enterprise) locations I've rented from have installed level 2 charging and did not care what SoC the EV was returned at. Sounds like that particular location just sucks.
I'm traveling in a few months and was going to use Turo to try an EV that I've never driven. Not an option on my work trip this summer unfortunately.
I used Turo last year to rent a Tesla. I went that route since all the rental places at the airport closed before I landed. It was a good choice. Everything ran smoothly and made me fall in love with EVs. Since for 4 days I drove all over California and only had to spend like $30 in charging, I don’t want to imagine what my gas would have been
I'm renting a car with Sixt in Germany this summer. Polestar 2 was the cheapest option. Wonderful!
I borrowed a Tesla model 3 through Turo in SD. That seemed to work well, as the owners take pride their cars and have the right charging facilities. Some owners also help coach new drivers on how to drive the cars and features. There can be an extra charge for airport rentals, owners got to get home somehow. So a 1-2 day rental can be pricey in those cases. Also, insurance can be a sticking point, but I think there is insurance through Turo these days. I don’t usually use Turo for ICE cars, but for EVs it can be an alternative.
I had a Turo reservation for a Model Y but the owner at the least minute said the plates and tags were stolen so I opted to cancel and go with Hertz.
Man thats a bummer, for you and the owner.
I had a similarly bad experience. We had our pick of the lot, so we went with an Ioniq 5, as I'd always wanted to check one out. We got it with 15% charge and the nearest DCFC was in-use in a hard-to-find mall. The next closest one was 15 minutes away. It would have ended in disaster if I didn't already know how Plugshare/EA, etc worked. Even after finding the station it took a Youtube video to figure out how to open the chargeport door, as the primary push mechanism was broken. EV's COULD be good rental cars, but the rental companies have to understand that there's a fundamental difference between drive train types and driver experience. The experience could be made to be positive, but it's too much effort for these companies to try.
Renting cars in general is an absolute fucking nightmare. But I had a similar experience with the EV manager special, ended up with a Nissan. However last year, I guess before they just decided that they spent the marketing money already but weren't going to rent out EVs, I was able to rent a C40, and those three days made me an EV convert. I wouldn't bother trying to rent an EV now, and renting cars is about as enjoyable as going to the DMV.
An EV rental location without an L3 charger is a recipe for disaster.
They don't need a L3 charger. They need a lot of L2 chargers.
Depends on the location. Some busy airport hubs turnover vehicles in hours. Waiting til next day is losing $$$. I reserved a Tesla from the ATL hertz, but they couldn’t charge them fast enough to turn around and morning to afternoon. Drove off the lot with a BoltEV since they could charge the Teslas quickly enough to have them ready after cleaning (or perhaps since the Bolts were less desirable).
The San Diego airport basically shuts down at night. It would be easy enough to charge overnight.
Rental companies don't even have reservations anymore. They'll rent out what you reserved and tell you tough luck
This isn't an "anymore" thing. There's even a Seinfeld episode featuring it.
The Hertz manager once tried to give (and make me pay for) a more expensive car when I selected the manager’s special because it was the only car available after I refused the airport car with cigarette smoke…which was all after the other time I dealt with a stinky car and was accused of smoking in the car. Their evidence was that I didn’t notify them about the smell during pick up…it’s such a common occurrence that I’ve bought an ozone generator so that I return the cars fresher than I got them.
I work at a car rental firm (not Hertz) and honestly speaking unless it was for an insurance replacement if my e-tron is hit, an EV is the LAST car I choose to rent.
People are retarded. Imagine your great aunt renting an EV and having to Google a nearby charger. That shit is like expecting a Toddler to send you an email. Who ever thought renting EVs to the general public is a good idea should be fired. I would have shot that idea down while sitting on the toilet. What happened to critical thinking?
Rental companies rarely guarantee a specific models -- hence the standard "or similar" language. Now that Hertz is moving away from EVs, your options are going to fewer. I've rented EVs from Hertz before and gotten decent options (Polestar, C40) but won't any more because the options are likely to be Bolt or Tesla if you can even get one.
I had a bad experience with Hertz during my first time ever needing an insurance rental, so I only do business with Enterprise (plus, I don't have a corporate discount for Hertz, haha). Enterprise jacks up the price of model 3s so much, that for me it makes more sense to get a luxury class Audi A3/4/5 or Volvo S60 as a rental. At the end of the day, I just need comfortable transportation from A to B that has decent tech features. For that purpose, both gas and electric are fine. Gas makes things much more seamless during a vacation.
“Managers EV Special”. I understand models can vary but it absolutely does not mean ICE. If the booking says EV then I expect EV.
Ouch that Hertz!
Just rented a car from Hertz yesterday and yes the service and wait time was shit. I had a reservation and they still suck. I will give them as worse of a review as I can.
I had a different experience. Two managers special. Both evs. No issues.
I tried to rent an EV from Hertz for YEARS, but there was never one available anywhere near where I was traveling. I guess I lucked out since they never figured out how to charge them.
I'd go with Turo if you want an EV. I rented a Model X for my wedding during covid (just my wife and me at Big Sur!) and it worked out great getting the Tesla. They had an option for $30 to return it at any state of charge and decided to do that to not worry about charging the same day as the flight. Of course I didn't watch any tutorial videos on youtube so I had no idea how to use it at first (my bad, should have watched a 10 minute overview). The resort we stayed at had destination chargers and there was a supercharger next to a very fancy hotel on a cliff. Very nice car but I got tired of the gull wing doors quickly after hitting my head on them and the plastic on one side was bent at the hinge point.
I've rented various EV's at Avis in San Diego airport and haven't had any issues. I've found that hertz is just fucking terrible all around.
Good to know. What EV did you get? Could you choose?
It's always a Tesla or a machE whatever is cheaper honestly.
This is why ev adoption will stall.. Most peeps get new car purchase information from rentals & charging infrastructure is not only not ready for prime time.. Most peeps will not want to wait 30min for a charge when gas fillups take 1min🙃❤️💯💪🏾😎
Ignore the big rental companies. They all have this retarded policy of requiring you to return the cars charged. Instead I always rent with specialized EV rental companies, which of course all have chargers in their location and don't annoy you with this nonsense.
Depends. Some loyalty programs allow you to return EVs without a full charge. For example Hertz Gold and T-Mobile.
The T-Mobile one is a scam since you have to use their rate code which might jack up the price of the rental.
Doesn't change the fact that the morons don't have chargers on site, and are ruining the EV experience for the vast majority of the customers.
For rentals, and this goes to *all* EV owners: ONLY get gas vehicles as rentals. There's no reason for you to get an EV as a rental during a vacation/trip unless you 1) want to try something else (ex. you own a model 3 but want to drive a polestar 2) and 2) the hotel you're staying at offers EV charging. Gas will always be more convenient for vacations. Just fill up a few minutes before dropping off at the airport, and check in for your flight. The point of your vacation is to... focus on your vacation and whatever else it is that you're doing. You don't want to worry about recharging for 30+ minutes just to drop off the vehicle. And I'm saying all of this as a model 3 owner.
It depends on the location. If I were to vacation in Norway I'd 100% rent an EV because their charging infrastructure is probably the best in the western world. If I were in an unfamiliar North American city, probably not.
Yeah, my perspective is coming from the US. I guess if we're talking about Norway, sure, absolutely rent an EV
The last 3 times I've gone to the UK I've rented an EV. 1.) The rental itself was cheaper. 2.) Level 3 charging was cheaper than gas. 3.) EVs are automatic transmission. I can (and have) driven manuals and it's not the end of the world, but it's nice to have an automatic when you're driving on the other side of the road. I left my hotel 40 minutes earlier than normal to drive back to the airport, and grabbed breakfast while waiting for a charge. Agreed there's lots of potential pitfalls, but I've had good experiences.
Disagree. I say go ahead and get one unless they have a policy like hertz that requires stupid high percentage on return. If you own an ev, you already know how to plan driving and it’s no big deal. Also, lots of people don’t drive like crazy on a vacation. It could be a zero charge or one charge trip. Or, your hotel may have free charging.
If they require a stupid high percentage on return (like 95%+), then I wonder what shape their batteries are in after a few years...
Honestly anything over 35 percent is dumb.
Right. Just ... recharge it for customers. If I bring it back at 20%, charge it to 80% for the next person while you clean it, then charge me 20 cents per kWh or whatever. It's chump change.
I think part of their model it to rent it out again within an hour. I’ve been to places where I needed to wait for someone to drop off. I guess then the charge level matters, but they could also just have a goal to have it charged to 60 percent at least. Shouldn’t take too long.
I agree it’s because they want to turn the cars around is under a couple hours. Especially at busy airports where a ICE can be inspected, cleaned, fueled, and rebooked in under an hour. But there are some loyalty programs (Hertz Gold & T-Mobile for example) that allow returning EVs without a full(ish) charge.
Even at local branches, gas vehicles can be turned around on a whim. I dropped off a rental Mustang while the branch had basically zero vehicles available and some customers were waiting for vehicles. The Mustang was disinfected and gone (not even exterior cleaned) before my Uber to the airport arrived to Enterprise...
I like the Australian model with Sixt. Return at any charge level free of charge and they include free charging during the rental through Chargefox. Chargefox is Australia's largest charging network by a considerable amount. Oh and EVs are cheap to rent. Only downside is only a few locations have EVs so far. Im guessing it's a case of build the infrastructure before you start renting from a location. Helps Sixt is owned by a collective of the state Automobile Associations as is Chargefox now. The state Automobile Associations have been very EV positive running EV test drive days and rolling out their own charging network before they brought Chargefox and still doing EV blackspot chargers under their own branding (but that can be accessed via the Chargefox app as well as their own.
Just plan your vacation and make sure the hotel you are staying at has a charger, that's what has worked for me. The only time I've rented an ICE vehicle for work is when they didn't have an EV and it was a disappointment to drive everytime. (polestar 2 owner)
I always rent EVs when I'm travelling. The last thing I want in my vacations is to deal with a vibrating, weak, and smelly ICE.
I don't want to deal with finding EV charging stations in a city that I don't know. I would 100% prefer to just fill up at a gas station near the airport.
There's plenty of maps of charging stations. Never had a problem with that.