The Hertz Polestar rental I had Wednesday didn't care what percent of charge I brought it back at. I think they only care around peak holidays when they need to get a car turned around quickly

 

I rented a Tesla from Hertz at the ATL airport just over a week ago and was actually surprised they charge the re-charging fee. I don't remember that from last time I rented one - it makes sense, but the amount feels a bit high IMO.

 

i think I would just pay the $25 and bring it back in on empty. Lol

 

Well, considering you got it with 48% charge, they should owe you money.

 

Recharging fee is BS. Just rental car companies trying to get all the fees they can

 

I thought the same but now I have 2 thoughts:
1) If the rental car co's don't have fast chargers, and someone brings the car back with very little battery, that car likely can't go back into the rental pool for 6-8 hours (if charging at same speed as my house). This is very different than a gas car.
2) Perhaps they do have fast chargers (I don't know about super chargers), assume they had to pay a decent amount for those.

 

^^ Plus, for $25 I think it's a good is a deal just for the convenience. IMO

I bet they charge $5 or more per gallon for ICE rentals.

 

That’s a good point…

 

I would absolutely pay the $25 to return it with whatever battery charge happens to be left after the rental.

 

So would I. I was once picking up a rental in San Antonio, and a women came in to complain about $15 a gallon charge when she returned the car with half tank. $25 is a bargain

 

I don't really mind the fee, especially in this case since my company covers it... It just caught me off guard because I've rented them before and they've never charged me for bringing them back partially charged. The irony in this case is I specifically chose an EV for that reason (opposed to a gas car) because I figured I wouldn't get charged for it and was trying to save my company a few bucks. Then as I was pulling out of the rental garage they asked me about bringing it back charged and I learned I'd be paying for it..! I knew I'd be cutting it close to return the car and catch my flight so knew I wouldn't have time to fill something up and thought EV's were "free" in that sense. No biggie, just something to know.

 

some hertz charging info: https://www.hertz.com/us/en/blog/ele...-a-full-charge

 

I have had one for a month and although it only show 262 miles of range for 100% charge, I find it to be close to real world range unlike my Plaid which isn’t even close.

$25 is cheap compared to filling up with gas. I would gladly pay $25 if I had to but I only need to bring it back with 70% charge because that is what it had when I got it which is easy for me since I have a Tesla charger at home.

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Thanks for sharing your experience. So I had one reserved last month to take a trip from Atlanta to DC. At the last min I canned and took a Audi A5 instead. I actually chickened out due to thinking about spending time charging vs just hitting a gas pump for 5 mins. While on that trip I kept noticing charging stations were always taken and did not have open spaces where I went.

Also on that trip the Audi was ok, but I would not want to own a Audi A5 sport S Line.

 

Were these Tesla charging stations, or non Tesla stations, like Electrify America? I know being in California may be different, but on my last trip going 380 miles, I only made two stops that were less than 15 minutes each. Tons of Tesla chargers. I would go take a ****, and stretch out my legs, and charging would be done by the time I got back and I'm on my way