3 ms·

Yes, should have been blindingly obvious at the time to anyone who did minimum investigation that full autonomy within the (short) lifetime of a rental car was

by ghaff 2y ago

Yes, should have been blindingly obvious at the time to anyone who did minimum investigation that full autonomy within the (short) lifetime of a rental car was a complete fantasy. I find it easier to believe that Hertz thought electric vehicles would be a big consumer draw but, as a sometimes renter, I have trouble seeing the appeal of dealing with something unfamiliar as a renter aside from maybe a one-time novelty.

haliskerbas 2y ago
I rent a car around 6 times a year and I like trying out a different vehicle as often as I can. Adding car charging time into my short vacation in an unknown place, and being on the hook for returning it charged, etc. Might as well not deal with the hassle!
- ghaff 2y ago
  Exactly. I might rent a Tesla once just to see what it was like. But figuring out how to return a car fueled is enough hassle as it is. Rarely rent a car these days. Uber/Lyft has covered a lot of the edge cases in the US but still do it a few times a year.
  - vel0city 2y ago
    Exactly. Given the lower "fuel" cost and lower cost for employees to spend time "refueling" they should have accepted anything above like 20% with no cost. Their costs for recharging on industrial electric should have been like a dollar or two on an average battery, they should just leave them plugged in most of the time pulling little power. Dumb they weren't always guaranteed to be like 90+% and free over 20% charged on return.
- pavlov 2y ago
  I'm surprised that Hertz didn't build chargers on premises for this fleet. I can see why car rental companies expect fossil fuel cars to be returned with a full tank, but for an electric car, they can charge it themselves. Being able to return the car without having to worry about recharging would make the electric cars more attractive.
  - nunez 2y ago
    They invested significant capital in doing exactly that...at their prime locations (airports). The challenge here is that they didn't invest in building charging infrastructure at ALL of their locations (neighborhood centers, small airports, hotels, etc). This is problematic because a renter that decides last minute to one-way their car from a prime location to a non-prime location without charging first essentially took that car out of rev service for the day. An ICE car would never have that problem. This, of course, was fine when used EVs barely lost their value, but now that they depreciated like a rock since 2023, these cars are a cumulative black hole in forward revenue.
- JohnFen 2y ago
  > I like trying out a different vehicle as often as I can. Interesting. I rent just about that often, but I try to get a car that I'm already familiar with. If I'm renting a car, I'm probably somewhere that I'm not familiar with and have my hands and brain full of other stuff that needs attention. The last thing I want to do is add "get used to a different car" to that list. Most EVs, and Teslas particularly, have very different controls than the cars I am used to. I actively avoid them all mostly for that reason.
  - ghaff 2y ago
    I'll rent something that is similar to the vehicles I own but maybe somewhat different to try out. However, absent special needs, I wouldn't be inclined to rent something radically different unless it was a utilitarian sedan or something like that. But I wouldn't rent an electric car except as a novelty.
taylodl 2y ago
Which is even worse: Hertz has no idea who their customer is! I make 2-3 long trips per year, and I rent a car for each. Why? - I buy cheap, reliable transportation with a focus on commuting. You don't want to be in my car for several hours on a long trip. - If I break down, the rental company takes care of it. I don't have to find a shop and wait for a part. - I save a fortune. I know people who base their car-buying decision based off the couple of long trips they make per year. They end up paying 2x - 3x more for their car than I've paid for mine. They also typically have higher fueling costs and higher repair costs. - When I do get an EV, I don't have one yet, I won't worry about range anxiety That last point is what I never understood about Hertz - you should be pitching your rentals to EV owners as a solution for range anxiety on long distance trips. Easy peasy! You get sales. Not here's unfamiliar technology you're using in an unfamiliar place, figure it out! How did they ever think that was a smart idea?
- ghaff 2y ago
  I don't really consider several hours a long trip. I routinely do 2-5 hours on a weekend and can't believe that's so unusual or that a family or a group wouldn't want a vehicle set up for the purpose. Of course, others have different needs.

by ghaff 2y ago

haliskerbas 2y ago

I rent a car around 6 times a year and I like trying out a different vehicle as often as I can. Adding car charging time into my short vacation in an unknown place, and being on the hook for returning it charged, etc. Might as well not deal with the hassle!

ghaff 2y ago
Exactly. I might rent a Tesla once just to see what it was like. But figuring out how to return a car fueled is enough hassle as it is. Rarely rent a car these days. Uber/Lyft has covered a lot of the edge cases in the US but still do it a few times a year.
- vel0city 2y ago
  Exactly. Given the lower "fuel" cost and lower cost for employees to spend time "refueling" they should have accepted anything above like 20% with no cost. Their costs for recharging on industrial electric should have been like a dollar or two on an average battery, they should just leave them plugged in most of the time pulling little power. Dumb they weren't always guaranteed to be like 90+% and free over 20% charged on return.
pavlov 2y ago
I'm surprised that Hertz didn't build chargers on premises for this fleet. I can see why car rental companies expect fossil fuel cars to be returned with a full tank, but for an electric car, they can charge it themselves. Being able to return the car without having to worry about recharging would make the electric cars more attractive.
- nunez 2y ago
  They invested significant capital in doing exactly that...at their prime locations (airports). The challenge here is that they didn't invest in building charging infrastructure at ALL of their locations (neighborhood centers, small airports, hotels, etc). This is problematic because a renter that decides last minute to one-way their car from a prime location to a non-prime location without charging first essentially took that car out of rev service for the day. An ICE car would never have that problem. This, of course, was fine when used EVs barely lost their value, but now that they depreciated like a rock since 2023, these cars are a cumulative black hole in forward revenue.
JohnFen 2y ago
> I like trying out a different vehicle as often as I can. Interesting. I rent just about that often, but I try to get a car that I'm already familiar with. If I'm renting a car, I'm probably somewhere that I'm not familiar with and have my hands and brain full of other stuff that needs attention. The last thing I want to do is add "get used to a different car" to that list. Most EVs, and Teslas particularly, have very different controls than the cars I am used to. I actively avoid them all mostly for that reason.
- ghaff 2y ago
  I'll rent something that is similar to the vehicles I own but maybe somewhat different to try out. However, absent special needs, I wouldn't be inclined to rent something radically different unless it was a utilitarian sedan or something like that. But I wouldn't rent an electric car except as a novelty.

taylodl 2y ago

Which is even worse: Hertz has no idea who their customer is! I make 2-3 long trips per year, and I rent a car for each. Why? - I buy cheap, reliable transportation with a focus on commuting. You don't want to be in my car for several hours on a long trip. - If I break down, the rental company takes care of it. I don't have to find a shop and wait for a part. - I save a fortune. I know people who base their car-buying decision based off the couple of long trips they make per year. They end up paying 2x - 3x more for their car than I've paid for mine. They also typically have higher fueling costs and higher repair costs. - When I do get an EV, I don't have one yet, I won't worry about range anxiety That last point is what I never understood about Hertz - you should be pitching your rentals to EV owners as a solution for range anxiety on long distance trips. Easy peasy! You get sales. Not here's unfamiliar technology you're using in an unfamiliar place, figure it out! How did they ever think that was a smart idea?

ghaff 2y ago
I don't really consider several hours a long trip. I routinely do 2-5 hours on a weekend and can't believe that's so unusual or that a family or a group wouldn't want a vehicle set up for the purpose. Of course, others have different needs.