I've read that in several places appears to be true China has taken the export crown from Japan.

Funny how history repeats at one time Japan was accused of all manner of anti-competitive practices.

 

 

Yeah, if your route or where you're staying doesn't have super chargers nearby it would make the rental a stressful experience. I've rented a Tesla 3 or 4 times on work trips to Atlanta, but there are plenty of charging options around the city. I only need to charge before heading back to the airport as I'm typically just doing 20-40 miles/day and only there for 2 or maybe 3 days.

 

They are fools to have that policy (bring back fully charged), that is 10000% idiocy on them.

That would definitely stop me from renting an EV, and I briefly considered doing so when we went out to CA.

 

They are selling mostly their Tesla ifor financial reasons. Largest car ownership cost include fuel which rental companies do not care, interest which is the same in similar priced vehicles, insurance which is 1.5 times for Tesla but they knew that when they made the investment but where their lost a lot of money is the extremely expensive depreciation. They lost tens of thousand dollars per Tesla and they really did not expect that. It is just a financial decision.

 

I did.

Who is gonna buy a used rental EV?

I wouldn’t touch a rental ICE Lexus let alone a Tesla that you know has been ragged out by people who have never experienced one, etc.

 

They only charge you $20 I think if it’s not charged. The other issue with them for rental fleets is you can’t turn them right around because they need to charge.

Actually I would buy a rental EV before I would buy a rental ICE. Wear and tear is less damaging.

 

The rental Audi Q5 I put 2,900 miles on, called for premium fuel. I put 87 in it the entire time I had it

 

I don't know about small rental agencies but the big ones are self insured.

 

Now you reminded me my sister’s first car. She leased for 36 months a Nissan Maxima, put 50000 miles and returned it without ever changing the oil.

 

I feel sorry for the next owner of that car. Lol

People who are that clueless NEED an EV so they are not a danger to themselves or others. Haha

 

I wouldn't do that (thats a pretty jerky thing to do IMO) but I'm sure most people who rent it do

 

because you don't always need to wake up with a full (or 80% or whatever) charge, and you may not be driving far.

exactly, my 6 day trip with a model 3 rental was fine without charging on site. couple of 15 minute trips to a super charger was all i needed. cake.

 

Which I also said, but my question still stands, why would I want to rent one? How does that improve my trip?
Assuming you are somewhere near a Supercharger. Again though, on my vacation why do I want to go find a supercharger? For instance my trip to Orlando, I'm going to be driving from a hotel to theme parks etc...why do I want to go find a Supercharger? The whole reason I rent a car is to save time and hassle.

I just don't see why renting an EV on a vacation makes sense. Theres the novelty of trying out an EV fine, but from a rental car as transportation I don't see how its better than renting an ICE car. Costwise, you have to make sure to charge it on the way to the airport or they charge you, where if I'm not driving enough to need to charge it I wouldn't use $35 in gas in something comparable to a Model 3 in size.

 

If you were to rent a Tesla from Hertz here at least you only have to return the vehicle with the same charge you left with or you can return at any level for a $35 fee. Gas out here is $4.50 to $5 or so depending upon grade so the ICE equivalent of a prepaid tank of gas and return at any level would be way more expensive. Plus there are no shortage of superchargers if you wanted to charge up before return.

And count me as another who would be much more comfortable buying an ex-rental EV than an ex-rental ICE car.

And as aside, don't underestimate the number of (usually) free destination chargers. There are thousands of them. You're often able to charge for free at your hotel. So you're often able to start each day at 100%.