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I rented an electric vehicle (Polestar 2) last time I was in the UK: it was really a tale in two acts ... I was staying at a hotel that had six or eight chargi

I rented an electric vehicle (Polestar 2) last time I was in the UK: it was really a tale in two acts ... I was staying at a hotel that had six or eight charging points in the car park and it was generally very convenient to do a quick charge to 80% and reasonably priced. Hertz wanted it back with 80% charge or they'd bill us, and finding an appropriate charger near Heathrow was ridiculous. We tried six different locations: the first one was in a hotel, it had only one charger which was occupied with no sign of the driver. Two were in the car parks of office buildings to which we had no access. One was at a Tesla delivery center and didn't have public access. One was at a gas station where all five of the charge points were unserviceable. The last one was at a single-purpose electric car charging station where there was a considerable queue. In the end, we had to drop it off with low charge and bite the bullet otherwise we were going to miss our flight.

toomuchtodo 3y ago
> Hertz wanted it back with 80% charge or they'd bill us Can you share what the cost was so I can complain to someone at Hertz? I think it's reasonable if they charge for fast charging the vehicle upon return, but it shouldn't be extortionate. Should be what a fast DC charge would be (~$15-$25) so they can cover equipment and energy costs to quick turnaround the vehicle for the next renter. One of the benefits of EVs is that electricity is somewhat ubiquitous (including airport rental facility parking garages), so it's not great UX when an auto rental company is incentivizing customers to chase down fast charging at the last minute before return vs just topping cars up when returned.
- NovemberWhiskey 3y ago
  I pulled up the receipt; I don't actually remember the battery level when we dropped it off - I think it was about 45-50% ... looks like they charged £15.71 + VAT for the shortfall. Frankly, if I'd known it would be so reasonable I would not have bothered and spent an extra hour and a half in the Cathay First Class lounge.
  - toomuchtodo 3y ago
    Appreciate the time, I will get your feedback to the right folks.
    - ericmay 3y ago
      FWIW as a current EV owner (and have been for some time w/ Tesla) trying to make sure to charge to 80% like that before returning the vehicle or face a fee would stress me out to the point I'd probably rent a gas-powered car just to avoid that.
  - inciampati 3y ago
    Exact same car, but same company on the other side of the world. But the same experience. EV charging is cheap so you just pay for "service" that they're probably doing by default anyway.
- bluGill 3y ago
  Rental car companies typically charge 3-4 times the street price per gallon to fill up your gas car. They don't like people returning cars low on gas as then they have to pay someone to drive to a local gas station. Having fuel pumps means expensive EPA permits (or whatever agency in your country ensures they don't pollute) and a lot of safety systems - better to let a real gas station handle that.. So I would expect their prices are unreasonable just because of tradition. Of course electricity is something they already have, and in theory it should be a lot easier for them to handle chargers. However it is still new to them and they don't have it yet.
  - NovemberWhiskey 3y ago
    They actually subverted my expectations here - the extortionate gas pricing was very much in my mind and I was bracing myself to pay maybe four times what I actually paid.
  - masklinn 3y ago
    The avis agency I use has its own fast-charging point out in front. I've yet to rent an EV so I've no idea what their requirements are when giving it back, but them recharging a car is literally just parking it and plugging it in.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    > Rental car companies typically charge 3-4 times the street price per gallon to fill up your gas car. Not my experience with Enterprise brands or Avis Budget brands in the last 15 years. It might be 10 cents or 20 cents more per gallon, but nothing extortionate. The convenience of not having to worry about filling up your gas while on vacation or business is well worth it to me for the small premium I might pay.
  - pacaro 3y ago
    A couple of weeks ago I rented an electric car from Enterprise in the US and they told me to not worry what the charge level was when I dropped it off, they'd just charge it overnight. I returned it with ~4 miles left
- traceroute66 3y ago
  > Can you share what the cost was so I can complain to someone at Hertz? Its a change of policy at Hertz. Until recently Hertz were "bring it back anywhere over 10%". Now you are given two choices at the counter: - Bring it back >=80% or we'll charge you - Pay a fee in advance (generally somewhere around 30USD) and you can bring it back >=10%.
kmlx 3y ago
avis in las vegas wanted the tesla back with 70% but gave it to me at 12%. great job all around.
- sp332 3y ago
  Avis in Las Vegas signed me up for the top-tier insurance without telling me or having me sign off on it. I went to another office and had it removed.

toomuchtodo 3y ago

> Hertz wanted it back with 80% charge or they'd bill us Can you share what the cost was so I can complain to someone at Hertz? I think it's reasonable if they charge for fast charging the vehicle upon return, but it shouldn't be extortionate. Should be what a fast DC charge would be (~$15-$25) so they can cover equipment and energy costs to quick turnaround the vehicle for the next renter. One of the benefits of EVs is that electricity is somewhat ubiquitous (including airport rental facility parking garages), so it's not great UX when an auto rental company is incentivizing customers to chase down fast charging at the last minute before return vs just topping cars up when returned.

NovemberWhiskey 3y ago
I pulled up the receipt; I don't actually remember the battery level when we dropped it off - I think it was about 45-50% ... looks like they charged £15.71 + VAT for the shortfall. Frankly, if I'd known it would be so reasonable I would not have bothered and spent an extra hour and a half in the Cathay First Class lounge.
- toomuchtodo 3y ago
  Appreciate the time, I will get your feedback to the right folks.
  - ericmay 3y ago
    FWIW as a current EV owner (and have been for some time w/ Tesla) trying to make sure to charge to 80% like that before returning the vehicle or face a fee would stress me out to the point I'd probably rent a gas-powered car just to avoid that.
- inciampati 3y ago
  Exact same car, but same company on the other side of the world. But the same experience. EV charging is cheap so you just pay for "service" that they're probably doing by default anyway.
bluGill 3y ago
Rental car companies typically charge 3-4 times the street price per gallon to fill up your gas car. They don't like people returning cars low on gas as then they have to pay someone to drive to a local gas station. Having fuel pumps means expensive EPA permits (or whatever agency in your country ensures they don't pollute) and a lot of safety systems - better to let a real gas station handle that.. So I would expect their prices are unreasonable just because of tradition. Of course electricity is something they already have, and in theory it should be a lot easier for them to handle chargers. However it is still new to them and they don't have it yet.
- NovemberWhiskey 3y ago
  They actually subverted my expectations here - the extortionate gas pricing was very much in my mind and I was bracing myself to pay maybe four times what I actually paid.
- masklinn 3y ago
  The avis agency I use has its own fast-charging point out in front. I've yet to rent an EV so I've no idea what their requirements are when giving it back, but them recharging a car is literally just parking it and plugging it in.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  > Rental car companies typically charge 3-4 times the street price per gallon to fill up your gas car. Not my experience with Enterprise brands or Avis Budget brands in the last 15 years. It might be 10 cents or 20 cents more per gallon, but nothing extortionate. The convenience of not having to worry about filling up your gas while on vacation or business is well worth it to me for the small premium I might pay.
- pacaro 3y ago
  A couple of weeks ago I rented an electric car from Enterprise in the US and they told me to not worry what the charge level was when I dropped it off, they'd just charge it overnight. I returned it with ~4 miles left
traceroute66 3y ago
> Can you share what the cost was so I can complain to someone at Hertz? Its a change of policy at Hertz. Until recently Hertz were "bring it back anywhere over 10%". Now you are given two choices at the counter: - Bring it back >=80% or we'll charge you - Pay a fee in advance (generally somewhere around 30USD) and you can bring it back >=10%.

kmlx 3y ago

avis in las vegas wanted the tesla back with 70% but gave it to me at 12%. great job all around.

sp332 3y ago
Avis in Las Vegas signed me up for the top-tier insurance without telling me or having me sign off on it. I went to another office and had it removed.