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We recently went on vacation to Germany and rented a Polestar 2 from Hertz. The car was good but charging was infuriating. Had to download a new app for each c

We recently went on vacation to Germany and rented a Polestar 2 from Hertz. The car was good but charging was infuriating. Had to download a new app for each charging spot and they didn't include a home-charging cable so we couldn't charge at family home we were visiting. Overall wouldn't recommend which is a huge shame. At home we drive a Tesla M3, charge at home from solar and supercharger network is flawless when doing road trips. Very puzzling that Hertz + Tesla hasn't streamlined the charging process for rental vehicles.

cycrutchfield 3y ago
If you rent a Tesla from Hertz you can just charge at any supercharger and it will charge to your final bill. It’s super easy, no friction whatsoever.
thesimon 3y ago
Rented a Polestar 2 multiple times from Hertz in the summer. It included both a home-charging cable and a charging fob. The Hertz charging fob is quite expensive though, cheaper to signup to something like EnBW, which you can use for almost all charging stations [0]. Supercharger in Germany are almost all open to third-party cars as well, though not as cheap as EnBW. [0]: https://www.enbw.com/elektromobilitaet/produkte/ladetarife https://www.enbw.com/elektromobilitaet/produkte/ladetarife
steveBK123 3y ago
EV owner 6 years here, rented an EV in Portugal and was a disaster. Nearly stranded at a rest stop, spent 2 hours trying to charge, apps wouldn't accept payment, apps wouldn't activate Ionity charger, spent an hour on long distance cellphone call to Ionity call center where they manually activated a charge for me after great difficulty. The other thing for people who think they can plan around it is that remember with typical rental agency you have no idea exactly which EV model they are going to give you at check in. So could be the one with 220/240/280mi highway range. And then they might hand it to you with the battery at 80% full. Your plans to safely get to your destination on 100% of the 280mi battery may be quickly spoiled by getting a a 240mi EV at 80% full and being -90mi short.

cycrutchfield 3y ago

If you rent a Tesla from Hertz you can just charge at any supercharger and it will charge to your final bill. It’s super easy, no friction whatsoever.

thesimon 3y ago

Rented a Polestar 2 multiple times from Hertz in the summer. It included both a home-charging cable and a charging fob. The Hertz charging fob is quite expensive though, cheaper to signup to something like EnBW, which you can use for almost all charging stations [0]. Supercharger in Germany are almost all open to third-party cars as well, though not as cheap as EnBW. [0]: https://www.enbw.com/elektromobilitaet/produkte/ladetarife https://www.enbw.com/elektromobilitaet/produkte/ladetarife

steveBK123 3y ago

EV owner 6 years here, rented an EV in Portugal and was a disaster. Nearly stranded at a rest stop, spent 2 hours trying to charge, apps wouldn't accept payment, apps wouldn't activate Ionity charger, spent an hour on long distance cellphone call to Ionity call center where they manually activated a charge for me after great difficulty. The other thing for people who think they can plan around it is that remember with typical rental agency you have no idea exactly which EV model they are going to give you at check in. So could be the one with 220/240/280mi highway range. And then they might hand it to you with the battery at 80% full. Your plans to safely get to your destination on 100% of the 280mi battery may be quickly spoiled by getting a a 240mi EV at 80% full and being -90mi short.