EV questions

[lemming]

I want to rent an EV for a couple of weeks.

Re: Tesla 3 rental from Hertz or similar —can you access the Tesla charging system when you are not an owner?

[dan]

https://www.hertz.com/blog/electric-...le%20with%20us.

[lemming]

Originally Posted by dan

https://www.hertz.com/blog/electric-...le%20with%20us.

So Tesla recognizes its product. Will charge the owner of that specific car. And Hertz passes along the charging costs to the renter?

Just making sure I fully understand.

and thank you, @aty

[JST]

There’s a big long FAQ there that answers more Qs:

If you charge at a Tesla network station, we’ll pass through your charging-related fees to the credit card you used to rent your Tesla.* And if you charge at a third-party charging station, just pay on the spot.

*See your EV Rental Terms to learn more.

[robg]

I actually rented a Model 3 from Hertz in Santa Monica a month ago. Yes, you can use the supercharger network; Hertz will bill you back for any charges incurred. Obviously, you wont be able to use the Tesla app (which is only for owners); so you'll have to use the keycard to open and start the car. All in all its a great rental car. Also keep in mind that Teslas no longer come with chargers to plug the car into a regular outlet; so you'll actually need to use superchargers in order to charge it (unless you can borrow own from somone who has a Tesla portable EVSE)

Interestingly, Enterprise also rents Teslas but only to owners; apparently they dont have a similar arrangement as Hertz does with a corporate account for supercharging.

[lemming]

Originally Posted by robg

I actually rented a Model 3 from Hertz in Santa Monica a month ago. Yes, you can use the supercharger network; Hertz will bill you back for any charges incurred. Obviously, you wont be able to use the Tesla app (which is only for owners); so you'll have to use the keycard to open and start the car. All in all its a great rental car. Also keep in mind that Teslas no longer come with chargers to plug the car into a regular outlet; so you'll actually need to use superchargers in order to charge it (unless you can borrow own from somone who has a Tesla portable EVSE)

Interestingly, Enterprise also rents Teslas but only to owners; apparently they dont have a similar arrangement as Hertz does with a corporate account for supercharging.

Thank you all. Appreciate the information.

[ZBB]

Rob’s info is correct….

The supercharger cost will show on your Hertz receipt — Hertz pulls it from the Tesla API. I had a Model 3 from LGA a few months ago and stopped on the way back to the airport to charge — and the cost was on my receipt from Tesla that came in less than an hour later…

Couple other things to note:
- While it won’t come with a mobile connector, it should come with a J1772 to Tesla adapter for slow charging. I had a 3 rental where that came in handy (was able to charge at an office location I was at that only had J1772 chargers…).
- Hertz does not pay for Tesla’s data plan, so the streaming audio and satellite view maps don’t work — but the nav system and basic maps work fine (you just don’t get the full experience). You might be able tether a phone to the car to get those features to work over Wi-Fi (haven’t tried that though…)
- Hertz also has most of the autopilot features disabled. They do enable autosteer, which is enabled by tapping the drive selector stalk down 2x (1x is just cruise control; up tap cancels cruise and any autopilot)…. So the car will keep you in the lane. But you will have to turn it off to change lanes (the auto lane change feature is disabled).. I can understand why they do this, but it’s weird for Tesla owners.
- Tesla is supposedly testing a way to temporarily add the car to the app to let the app be the key for the duration of the rental (apparently QR-code based — the screen displays the QR code). People are reporting that its working for service loaners now, so perhaps Hertz will get access to it soon…

[lemming]

Originally Posted by ZBB

Rob’s info is correct….

The supercharger cost will show on your Hertz receipt — Hertz pulls it from the Tesla API. I had a Model 3 from LGA a few months ago and stopped on the way back to the airport to charge — and the cost was on my receipt from Tesla that came in less than an hour later…

Couple other things to note:
- While it won’t come with a mobile connector, it should come with a J1772 to Tesla adapter for slow charging. I had a 3 rental where that came in handy (was able to charge at an office location I was at that only had J1772 chargers…).
- Hertz does not pay for Tesla’s data plan, so the streaming audio and satellite view maps don’t work — but the nav system and basic maps work fine (you just don’t get the full experience). You might be able tether a phone to the car to get those features to work over Wi-Fi (haven’t tried that though…)
- Hertz also has most of the autopilot features disabled. They do enable autosteer, which is enabled by tapping the drive selector stalk down 2x (1x is just cruise control; up tap cancels cruise and any autopilot)…. So the car will keep you in the lane. But you will have to turn it off to change lanes (the auto lane change feature is disabled).. I can understand why they do this, but it’s weird for Tesla owners.
- Tesla is supposedly testing a way to temporarily add the car to the app to let the app be the key for the duration of the rental (apparently QR-code based — the screen displays the QR code). People are reporting that its working for service loaners now, so perhaps Hertz will get access to it soon…

Thank you for the details. I’m not a high tech person so these things might be lost on me.

I am more curious about the real world range going at LA speeds on the highway. I don’t know at this point what “300 mile range” means. Does it mean you can do 85-90mph over 100-150 miles and still have X miles range left? To solve for X, I need to assess in real world driving.

That would help me understand if 230 mile range is underwhelming or if I really need to hold out for “400 mile range”.

Hope this makes sense how I explained it. The comparators would be GT3 getting 18mpg, the T getting 28mpg or the 987 getting 25 mpg over same circuit and obviously splash and dash is 10 minutes.

[JST]

Real world range is tricky, because it’s so dependent on external factors like speed, temperature, weather, and so on.

That said, Tesla’s range estimates have always been optimistic—not quite best case scenario, but close. Other EV manufacturers have been more conservative with range claims.

The good news for you is that Southern California remains about the best environment for EV use, because it doesn’t get super cold (which is what really kills range). The bad news is that like all vehicles, EV efficiency goes way down at high speeds, which hurts range a lot. Cruising at 80 plus will cut into your range a fair bit.

It’s cool that you can rent more and more EVs these days. I would definitely rent a Model 3 and play around with it. Keep in mind though that the real killer app for the EV experience is home charging. That is the huge benefit that balances against the various downsides. Assuming a Model 3 has enough range for your daily commute, you may never need a Supercharger—and not having to stop for gas or charging is such a nice thing that when we replaced our Tesla my wife basically insisted on a car that could replicate that experience.

You may not get that with a rental if you don’t have a home charger, so just keep that in mind as you’re thinking about how it fits into your life.

[ZBB]

When's the last time you got the advertised MPG in a gas car? The EPA range test for an EV uses the same test cycles as a gas car -- and those never match your reality.

The only other comment on range estimates is that the route planner in the car does a pretty good job of estimating use for each drive -- and has 2 very useful features: A) gives a round-trip estimate at the bottom (you have to look for it a bit though), and B) it will route you to superchargers if you can't make it to your destination...

Hertz tends to have the smaller battery Teslas, so they have a ~265ish EPA range at 100% charge (and the new battery chemistry in these allows 100% charge all the time...). If you were in stop-and-go freeway traffic and local roads the majority of the time, you'll likely see 240ish real-world range. If you have open roads and drive 70-75 most of the time, expect 200ish...