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Literally made the same decision last night for a rental. I had no idea how to charge an electric car and did not want to have to deal with figuring it out on t

Literally made the same decision last night for a rental. I had no idea how to charge an electric car and did not want to have to deal with figuring it out on top of everything else. They charge you $25 if you return it not fully charged, which is bananas, because why couldn’t they just plug it in while they’re cleaning the car? It’s not like gas where they have to drive the car to a gas station.

gnfargbl 3y ago
Is that a $25 recharging fee, or $25 for the electricity? A full tank of electrons is around $25 equivalent in the UK. (I realise it's cheaper in most of the US.)
bryanlarsen 3y ago
You're likely going to spend more than $25 to put gasoline in your rental before returning it, and $25 is the approximate cost for a supercharger, so that charge seems very reasonable. You could have just taken the electric car and returned it empty.
- pc86 3y ago
  The last time I rented a car (2 months ago?) if you returned it less than whatever you receive it at, you get charged for an entire tank of gas with the $3-4/gal markup. So receive it full and return it at 15/16ths and you're looking at a $80-100 bill easily on the larger vehicles. It's likely similar where if you receive it at 100% and return it at 98% you're getting charged the full $25. It's just another revenue source for the company.
  - bryanlarsen 3y ago
    $25 flat fee is reasonable. $25 + the cost of a full charge isn't. I'm not sure which the OP experienced.
  - mschuster91 3y ago
    The refill charge is nuts anyway even for ICE vehicles. Put an 1 m³ construction site tank+pump for diesel and one for regular gas on the site and that's it - these things cost about 1000€ [1]. From the start, refill charges have been an utter scam. [1] https://www.geratech-tankanlagen.de/tankanlagen-diesel-adblue/hoftankstelle-1000-liter-komplett/a-10302 https://www.geratech-tankanlagen.de/tankanlagen-diesel-adblu...
- nytesky 3y ago
  That may well be the case. But I’m not driving far, it’s just while my car is in shop. Gas is $2.90 here, and the rentals was a Chevy bolt — so not a Supercharger right, some non Tesla connector I have to track down? I think it was $25 flat if not as same level, so I can fill it to the level I received it and hope they kept accurate records (ie knew it wasn’t full). I think if I had ample time during all this an EV would be interesting but I just don’t want to make a mistake and make this repair even more expensive.
ZeroGravitas 3y ago
Their webpage suggests you have to return it at the same level of charge as you got it at, or pay a $25/$35 (depending on membership level) convenience fee to return it at any charge level. I recall a similar rule the last time I hired a gas car, but feels like for EVs it could use a tweak or two.

gnfargbl 3y ago

Is that a $25 recharging fee, or $25 for the electricity? A full tank of electrons is around $25 equivalent in the UK. (I realise it's cheaper in most of the US.)

bryanlarsen 3y ago

You're likely going to spend more than $25 to put gasoline in your rental before returning it, and $25 is the approximate cost for a supercharger, so that charge seems very reasonable. You could have just taken the electric car and returned it empty.

pc86 3y ago
The last time I rented a car (2 months ago?) if you returned it less than whatever you receive it at, you get charged for an entire tank of gas with the $3-4/gal markup. So receive it full and return it at 15/16ths and you're looking at a $80-100 bill easily on the larger vehicles. It's likely similar where if you receive it at 100% and return it at 98% you're getting charged the full $25. It's just another revenue source for the company.
- bryanlarsen 3y ago
  $25 flat fee is reasonable. $25 + the cost of a full charge isn't. I'm not sure which the OP experienced.
- mschuster91 3y ago
  The refill charge is nuts anyway even for ICE vehicles. Put an 1 m³ construction site tank+pump for diesel and one for regular gas on the site and that's it - these things cost about 1000€ [1]. From the start, refill charges have been an utter scam. [1] https://www.geratech-tankanlagen.de/tankanlagen-diesel-adblue/hoftankstelle-1000-liter-komplett/a-10302 https://www.geratech-tankanlagen.de/tankanlagen-diesel-adblu...
nytesky 3y ago
That may well be the case. But I’m not driving far, it’s just while my car is in shop. Gas is $2.90 here, and the rentals was a Chevy bolt — so not a Supercharger right, some non Tesla connector I have to track down? I think it was $25 flat if not as same level, so I can fill it to the level I received it and hope they kept accurate records (ie knew it wasn’t full). I think if I had ample time during all this an EV would be interesting but I just don’t want to make a mistake and make this repair even more expensive.

ZeroGravitas 3y ago

Their webpage suggests you have to return it at the same level of charge as you got it at, or pay a $25/$35 (depending on membership level) convenience fee to return it at any charge level. I recall a similar rule the last time I hired a gas car, but feels like for EVs it could use a tweak or two.