[epistasis]

Rental cars as EVs are pretty much the worst possible case. We are at the transition where we don't have chargers everywhere, but we will soon because chargers are way cheaper than a gas station. Also rentals tend to be driven for longer trips, and for uncertain distances! And on top of it all rental companies tend to not give people any choice, education, or help with the EV.

I wouldn't bother with a PHEV for a vehicle I buy as I'm always going to buy EVs from now on, but for rentals a PHEV makes a lot of sense.

[WarmWash]

The two people I know who hate EVs passionately are people who decided to try it out as a rental, were explained nothing, just handed the keys, and as expected ended up stranded.

One didn't check if their hotel had charging, the other ran the battery down to 10% before deciding it was time to try and locate a charger.

[soco]

I'm in Western Europe and while there are chargers everywhere, you need hundred apps to register to charge, some slots are broken (empty yet show busy), some refuse to charge my PHEV... we're not there yet.

[crote]

Interesting. I occasionally rent EVs in Western Europe, and they just come with a single RFID card which seems to be accepted by all charging providers.

[pingou]

You can use the chargemap card which is virtually accepted everywhere but they add their own fees which can be ridiculous, sometimes it can even double the price of electricity.

[dangus]

I love renting EVs now, when they’re available.

They’re always the cheapest option and they’re often nicer than the cheapest gas ICE options. I’d rather be in a Genesis G80 Electrified than a Camry.

I just got a $100 charger for my relatives garage, which almost immediately paid for itself.

(Though I’ll admit, I’m lucky that they installed a 220v outlet decades ago for appliances in their garage).

[epistasis]

That's good to hear! We had some visitors, and we went on a trip to the mountains, and the nearest Level 2+ charger was some 70 miles away. It was a bit stressful for them, as they had never used an EV before, and the Electrify America chargers at the time tended to be either broken or in use. It was a major pain and stress point.

This will all get easier as the chargers become more prevalent.

[wpm]

My annoyance with rental EVs mostly stems from the fact that the rental locations don't have fast chargers, so if the car hasn't been back with them long enough before you pick up, the odds of getting it with maybe a half charged battery are quite high, since the rental co doesn't charge enough for returning an EV without filling the battery up first. So every trip is likely going to start with a secondary trip to a fast charger, which costs a ton and wastes your time.