5 ms·

Probably cause it’s hard to get people to charge them before they get returned

by zht 5y ago

llampx 5y ago
Why wouldn't they just apply the same usury rates they apply for gasoline tanks that are not given full to electric cars?
- easton 5y ago
  They could, but I don't know if people would like it. When you're running late for a flight it takes three minutes to drive through the (somewhat overpriced) airport gas station and throw $20 in the tank, but with an electric car that could be twenty minutes (assuming the airport had a charger available). Which means you're stuck paying Hertz to fill it for you at their crazy markup. Of course, the answer with most electric car charging questions is "charge it at home", which is great when you own the car, but when you're on a trip who knows what the hotel's infrastructure will be like.
- NikolaeVarius 5y ago
  I can do an after hours return with a gas car at 3am and spend the 3 minutes to fill up the tank before I leave it on the lot. You can't really do that with an electric car unless you want to pay a extremely high fillup cost
  - Symbiote 5y ago
    If they installed basic charging points at a reasonable number of parking spaces, it would be reasonable to allow people to return the cars without a full charge, so long as they plug them in. (I mean a charging point that can charge the car in 5-8 hours, which I assume should be straightforward for a new commercial installation with a 3-phase supply etc.)
ericmay 5y ago
I'm not sure that should be a problem so long as they are returned. I don't know the exact turn-around times for rental car companies but you can charge a Model 3 to full in 5 hours or so with a 240. Though I think another issue could be wear and tear on the battery as you're not supposed to charge to full - can rental companies software lock the charge rate? Not yet as far as I know.
- agustif 5y ago
  Wasn't tesla already doing it though? https://electrek.co/2021/05/24/tesla-found-guilty-throttling-charging-speed-asked-pay-16000-thousands-owners/ https://electrek.co/2021/05/24/tesla-found-guilty-throttling...
  - ericmay 5y ago
    No I mean you can charge your battery to 100% but it degrades the physical battery over time. I think this looks to be a separate issue affecting cars made in 2016. "Only Model S and Model X vehicles with 85 kWh battery packs, which were discontinued in 2016, seem to be affected at that point."
- JeffL 5y ago
  These cars are probably going to use the cheaper iron based batteries which are fine to charge to 100%.
  - ericmay 5y ago
    Good to know!
spookthesunset 5y ago
I dunno how long it takes to fully charge an EV but it seems to me the market would eventually figure out a way to just not require retiring the car full. The first rental company that does this for free will outsell all the rest. That being said I also don’t know what the turnaround on a returned car is when on a busy lot. Minutes? Hours? Days? They gotta wash and vacuum it at minimum. My guess would be a couple hours. They could start charging them right when you park at the return line…
- FireBeyond 5y ago
  Minutes. The last three times I've rented I've got a car that was just returned, and even had to wait while they wash and detail the car.
- llampx 5y ago
  I do kind of agree, but I have not much hope for a free market where a company wins by being that much better than the rest, where they could just go with the flow and charge the same fees as anyone else. With gas cars, there's a clear cost to having an employee go out and refuel it if its not returned full. This is much less justifiable if the company can just charge the cars on-site, either quickly or slowly. A compromise could be that if a car is returned with less than x%, where it must be charged before going out to the next customer, then charge more but if its returned with 80-100%, don't charge extra because it could go out to the next customer easily. I've rented plenty of cars without a full tank.
Rebelgecko 5y ago
I recently rented a plug-in hybrid and was hoping to top it off where I was staying... turns out that the rental company removed the 120v charger

Probably cause it’s hard to get people to charge them before they get returned

by zht 5y ago

Probably cause it’s hard to get people to charge them before they get returned

Why wouldn't they just apply the same usury rates they apply for gasoline tanks that are not given full to electric cars?

easton 5y ago
They could, but I don't know if people would like it. When you're running late for a flight it takes three minutes to drive through the (somewhat overpriced) airport gas station and throw $20 in the tank, but with an electric car that could be twenty minutes (assuming the airport had a charger available). Which means you're stuck paying Hertz to fill it for you at their crazy markup. Of course, the answer with most electric car charging questions is "charge it at home", which is great when you own the car, but when you're on a trip who knows what the hotel's infrastructure will be like.
NikolaeVarius 5y ago
I can do an after hours return with a gas car at 3am and spend the 3 minutes to fill up the tank before I leave it on the lot. You can't really do that with an electric car unless you want to pay a extremely high fillup cost
- Symbiote 5y ago
  If they installed basic charging points at a reasonable number of parking spaces, it would be reasonable to allow people to return the cars without a full charge, so long as they plug them in. (I mean a charging point that can charge the car in 5-8 hours, which I assume should be straightforward for a new commercial installation with a 3-phase supply etc.)

ericmay 5y ago

I'm not sure that should be a problem so long as they are returned. I don't know the exact turn-around times for rental car companies but you can charge a Model 3 to full in 5 hours or so with a 240. Though I think another issue could be wear and tear on the battery as you're not supposed to charge to full - can rental companies software lock the charge rate? Not yet as far as I know.

agustif 5y ago
Wasn't tesla already doing it though? https://electrek.co/2021/05/24/tesla-found-guilty-throttling-charging-speed-asked-pay-16000-thousands-owners/ https://electrek.co/2021/05/24/tesla-found-guilty-throttling...
- ericmay 5y ago
  No I mean you can charge your battery to 100% but it degrades the physical battery over time. I think this looks to be a separate issue affecting cars made in 2016. "Only Model S and Model X vehicles with 85 kWh battery packs, which were discontinued in 2016, seem to be affected at that point."
JeffL 5y ago
These cars are probably going to use the cheaper iron based batteries which are fine to charge to 100%.
- ericmay 5y ago
  Good to know!

spookthesunset 5y ago

I dunno how long it takes to fully charge an EV but it seems to me the market would eventually figure out a way to just not require retiring the car full. The first rental company that does this for free will outsell all the rest. That being said I also don’t know what the turnaround on a returned car is when on a busy lot. Minutes? Hours? Days? They gotta wash and vacuum it at minimum. My guess would be a couple hours. They could start charging them right when you park at the return line…

FireBeyond 5y ago
Minutes. The last three times I've rented I've got a car that was just returned, and even had to wait while they wash and detail the car.
llampx 5y ago
I do kind of agree, but I have not much hope for a free market where a company wins by being that much better than the rest, where they could just go with the flow and charge the same fees as anyone else. With gas cars, there's a clear cost to having an employee go out and refuel it if its not returned full. This is much less justifiable if the company can just charge the cars on-site, either quickly or slowly. A compromise could be that if a car is returned with less than x%, where it must be charged before going out to the next customer, then charge more but if its returned with 80-100%, don't charge extra because it could go out to the next customer easily. I've rented plenty of cars without a full tank.

Rebelgecko 5y ago

I recently rented a plug-in hybrid and was hoping to top it off where I was staying... turns out that the rental company removed the 120v charger