Comment It's not the EVs. It's their policies. (Score 1) 112
I recently rented an EV from Hertz in the USA. And I understand what is wrong. It's not the cars, it's their policy/organization. And lack of charging infrastructure in the USA.
First, you would expect that you rent an EV by getting it fully charged (or close enough) and that you just bring it back empty. That would be convenient for anyone who plans to do less than 400 km with their rental car. No need to waste time filling with gas close to the airport.
I was wrong.
You get it at a random charge level, the car is parked like any ICE car, and it doesn't look like they have charging stations and the rental location.
You have to bring it back with the same charge level. So you might get a car which is at 50% and you have to bring it back at 50% or more to avoid fees. Who wants to hunt for a fast charger after getting out of the airport?
Now the charging fee is $35, or $25 if you are a member of their loyalty plan (which you can get for free). $25 is not bad if you get a car with 100% charge and bring it back empty. But it sucks if you get a car at 50% and you bring it back at 40%.
You may not have a level 1 (120V) charging cable in the trunk. It seems they don't track those. So most probably people steal them. So charging slowly using a regular outlet might not even be an option. My first car didn't have one, but they told me to take one from another car.
And last, it looks like most hotels in the USA don't even have chargers. Mine had a very large parking and was next to a major highway. No charger. And I didn't even find a regular outlet, even though nightly level 1 charging would have been enough for me.
When I bring back the car, they just put them in lines with the ICE cars for cleanup. So they are not being charged right away when they receive them back. They may stay for hours parked there with 5% battery. I don't know how they charge them for the next customer.