4 ms·

Why not rent a gas car for the one day a year you need that distance? That's sort of where I'm ending up. Not w/ electric vehicles, but with bicycling. I bike

Why not rent a gas car for the one day a year you need that distance? That's sort of where I'm ending up. Not w/ electric vehicles, but with bicycling. I bike commute year-round & use it for most of my travel, but for the rare case when I need to use my car for longer trips it's nice to have. However, paying the cost of upkeep & monthly insurance for something I use so infrequently is starting to make less sense.

rayiner 8y ago
Because it’s a huge pain in the ass. So I go to a car rental place in my EV and then what, leave it there? Bring someone along to drive it back. Add a couple of hours renting a car to a trip that’s already jam packed with fussy kids and irritated spouses, that you’re trying to squeeze in on a weekend?
- jessaustin 8y ago
  When I didn't have a car, I rented from Enterprise several times a month. I never found it to be inconvenient. They pick you up! Besides, if like GP you mostly get around by bicycle or public transport, it doesn't seem like a hardship to get to or from the rental place that way.
  - simonbyrne 8y ago
    It still takes ~30 mins, and the one near me isn't open on Sunday afternoons, which cuts into my Monday morning and pushes a 2 day rental to a 3 day one.
  - efosmark 8y ago
    Yep. Here in Portland we also have services like ReachNow & Car2Go which have the cars sprawled out around the city rather than needing to go to a specific place. As a cyclist, I wish more of these services (Enterprise included) would have cars with bike racks on them. Car2Go did with their Smart-car fleet, but that was phased out.
- simonbyrne 8y ago
  I don't understand why car rental places haven't tried to address this yet: e.g. offer drop-off and pick-up (of the car, not me), including evening and weekends. You can sort of get this through Turo, but you don't get the network benefits (one-way rentals, easy replacement, etc.).
tzs 8y ago
One problem with the "rent a gas car for long trips" approach is that for many people their long trips are at times or for events that a lot of people also need a gas car for. Rental cars may be hard to come by at such times, or may be very expensive.
83 8y ago
Oh where to start. Ignoring the fact that I've rarely had a good experience renting: Space - Rear seats have been unbolted/removed in my SUV and a roof rack added for the climbing/camping/canyoneering/safety gear I bring. Perhaps there are rental places with roof racks, I've yet to see one. Cost - Most rental places I've checked charge > $0.50 per mile if you are out of state or over a couple hundred miles (if they allow it at all). On a 3000+ mile trip I'd have $1500 in mileage fees. Don't be fooled when they say unlimited mileage - its like unlimited data for cell phones. If anyone has experience to the contrary where it isn't prohibitively expensive for a trip this length I'd love to hear it (keeping in mind I go down rough dirt roads so SUV/truck, not passenger car). Comfort - Custom stereo and other things that you can have in your own car but not a rental. Also my car is modified so passenger seat can lay flat allowing one person to sleep while another drives, greatly reducing travel time. Safety - I'm very familiar with the capabilities of my vehicle when I go down some of the rougher roads, or have to get through sand. Also how far I can push when the gas tank gets low. I'm not opposed to the idea, it's just a hard sell. I'd love to have an electric car for commuting to work and just rent a few times a year that I need something bigger.

rayiner 8y ago

Because it’s a huge pain in the ass. So I go to a car rental place in my EV and then what, leave it there? Bring someone along to drive it back. Add a couple of hours renting a car to a trip that’s already jam packed with fussy kids and irritated spouses, that you’re trying to squeeze in on a weekend?

jessaustin 8y ago
When I didn't have a car, I rented from Enterprise several times a month. I never found it to be inconvenient. They pick you up! Besides, if like GP you mostly get around by bicycle or public transport, it doesn't seem like a hardship to get to or from the rental place that way.
- simonbyrne 8y ago
  It still takes ~30 mins, and the one near me isn't open on Sunday afternoons, which cuts into my Monday morning and pushes a 2 day rental to a 3 day one.
- efosmark 8y ago
  Yep. Here in Portland we also have services like ReachNow & Car2Go which have the cars sprawled out around the city rather than needing to go to a specific place. As a cyclist, I wish more of these services (Enterprise included) would have cars with bike racks on them. Car2Go did with their Smart-car fleet, but that was phased out.
simonbyrne 8y ago
I don't understand why car rental places haven't tried to address this yet: e.g. offer drop-off and pick-up (of the car, not me), including evening and weekends. You can sort of get this through Turo, but you don't get the network benefits (one-way rentals, easy replacement, etc.).

tzs 8y ago

One problem with the "rent a gas car for long trips" approach is that for many people their long trips are at times or for events that a lot of people also need a gas car for. Rental cars may be hard to come by at such times, or may be very expensive.

83 8y ago

Oh where to start. Ignoring the fact that I've rarely had a good experience renting: Space - Rear seats have been unbolted/removed in my SUV and a roof rack added for the climbing/camping/canyoneering/safety gear I bring. Perhaps there are rental places with roof racks, I've yet to see one. Cost - Most rental places I've checked charge > $0.50 per mile if you are out of state or over a couple hundred miles (if they allow it at all). On a 3000+ mile trip I'd have $1500 in mileage fees. Don't be fooled when they say unlimited mileage - its like unlimited data for cell phones. If anyone has experience to the contrary where it isn't prohibitively expensive for a trip this length I'd love to hear it (keeping in mind I go down rough dirt roads so SUV/truck, not passenger car). Comfort - Custom stereo and other things that you can have in your own car but not a rental. Also my car is modified so passenger seat can lay flat allowing one person to sleep while another drives, greatly reducing travel time. Safety - I'm very familiar with the capabilities of my vehicle when I go down some of the rougher roads, or have to get through sand. Also how far I can push when the gas tank gets low. I'm not opposed to the idea, it's just a hard sell. I'd love to have an electric car for commuting to work and just rent a few times a year that I need something bigger.