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I don’t see how that’s different than needing to figure out gas station locations and not knowing how much you’ll use between points since you don’t know traffi

I don’t see how that’s different than needing to figure out gas station locations and not knowing how much you’ll use between points since you don’t know traffic or efficiency of that vehicle.

cyberax 3y ago
Realistically, unless you're in Manhattan or in the middle of nowhere, you're never more than 10-20 minutes away from a gas station.
- bombcar 3y ago
  I still remember the “last chance gas, no services next 90 miles” that you can still encounter in the high desert. But most places people drive there are stations everywhere. And if you ARE going into the wilderness, you can easily bring a few Jerry cans.
afavour 3y ago
Primary difference is that fueling up with gas is very quick. Charging is not (and is very variable depending on which chargers are available)
smsm42 3y ago
Efficiency is mostly irrelevant - unless you're going into the wilderness, you have a gas station within minutes of driving, and unless you are extremely careless, the chance you may end up in a place where you can't drive to a gas station is pretty much non-existent. Gas station locations are available on any phone that has internet connection, which again unless you are into extreme roughing it, is everywhere. I don't remember any time where I needed ever to plan around filling up, unless a) I am driving very long distance for hours (even then it's pretty easy) or b) I need to fill it up before returning the rental (usually there's a gas station right next to the entrance, with a properly inflated price to punish the fools that couldn't plan it in advance, but sometimes you may need to make a detour to get to it). With EV, it looks like much more of a chore.
- porkbeer 3y ago
  This is a hopelessly urban take, and factually incorrect.
  - smsm42 3y ago
    That comment would be much more valuable if it contained something beyond unsupported statement and something that I assume was meant to be an ad hominem attack.
gnicholas 3y ago
I don't love looking for gas stations before returning a vehicle, but I know I can find one within a few minutes, they will pretty much always be "functional" and available, and it will take only a few minutes to fill up. With an EV, I might have to go 10+ minutes out of my way (doubled for roundtrip), they might not work, and they might be full. And if I have to return with 80% charge or higher, it could easily take 30 mins or more of charging. Also, it's really easy for the rental place to see exactly what percent you returned it with. In gas cars, as long as you're in the ballpark of "full" you're usually good to go, partly because there's not an easy way for the rental clerk to tell exactly how many gallons are in the tank.
- NewJazz 3y ago
  If you return with <80%, what happens? Do they charge a flat fee or by the kWh? Most cars will taper charging speeds as you approach 80, 90 %. And then you have to drive from the charger to the car rental place. Hmm.
  - gnicholas 3y ago
    Yeah, I dunno! With gas, they would typically just charge you some exorbitant price per gallon, but if it's just for a gallon it would only end up being 8 bucks or something. I have no idea how they deal with electricity, but I could imagine the penalty being pretty high if it means they can't turn the car around for an hour or more.
toast0 3y ago
Gas stations near highways tend to have big signs you can see from the highway, in addition to being near most offramps in built-up areas. In rural areas, there's usually signs on the highway letting you know when there's a gas station at upcoming offramps and which direction to turn to get there. When there is a large distance between gas stations, there's typically signage letting you know about that too.

cyberax 3y ago

Realistically, unless you're in Manhattan or in the middle of nowhere, you're never more than 10-20 minutes away from a gas station.

bombcar 3y ago
I still remember the “last chance gas, no services next 90 miles” that you can still encounter in the high desert. But most places people drive there are stations everywhere. And if you ARE going into the wilderness, you can easily bring a few Jerry cans.

afavour 3y ago

Primary difference is that fueling up with gas is very quick. Charging is not (and is very variable depending on which chargers are available)

smsm42 3y ago

Efficiency is mostly irrelevant - unless you're going into the wilderness, you have a gas station within minutes of driving, and unless you are extremely careless, the chance you may end up in a place where you can't drive to a gas station is pretty much non-existent. Gas station locations are available on any phone that has internet connection, which again unless you are into extreme roughing it, is everywhere. I don't remember any time where I needed ever to plan around filling up, unless a) I am driving very long distance for hours (even then it's pretty easy) or b) I need to fill it up before returning the rental (usually there's a gas station right next to the entrance, with a properly inflated price to punish the fools that couldn't plan it in advance, but sometimes you may need to make a detour to get to it). With EV, it looks like much more of a chore.

porkbeer 3y ago
This is a hopelessly urban take, and factually incorrect.
- smsm42 3y ago
  That comment would be much more valuable if it contained something beyond unsupported statement and something that I assume was meant to be an ad hominem attack.

gnicholas 3y ago

I don't love looking for gas stations before returning a vehicle, but I know I can find one within a few minutes, they will pretty much always be "functional" and available, and it will take only a few minutes to fill up. With an EV, I might have to go 10+ minutes out of my way (doubled for roundtrip), they might not work, and they might be full. And if I have to return with 80% charge or higher, it could easily take 30 mins or more of charging. Also, it's really easy for the rental place to see exactly what percent you returned it with. In gas cars, as long as you're in the ballpark of "full" you're usually good to go, partly because there's not an easy way for the rental clerk to tell exactly how many gallons are in the tank.

NewJazz 3y ago
If you return with <80%, what happens? Do they charge a flat fee or by the kWh? Most cars will taper charging speeds as you approach 80, 90 %. And then you have to drive from the charger to the car rental place. Hmm.
- gnicholas 3y ago
  Yeah, I dunno! With gas, they would typically just charge you some exorbitant price per gallon, but if it's just for a gallon it would only end up being 8 bucks or something. I have no idea how they deal with electricity, but I could imagine the penalty being pretty high if it means they can't turn the car around for an hour or more.

toast0 3y ago

Gas stations near highways tend to have big signs you can see from the highway, in addition to being near most offramps in built-up areas. In rural areas, there's usually signs on the highway letting you know when there's a gas station at upcoming offramps and which direction to turn to get there. When there is a large distance between gas stations, there's typically signage letting you know about that too.