My Experience Renting an Electric Vehicle

What I Think You Should Know

On a recent three-day business trip to San Diego, I rented an electric vehicle from a major rental company. I had never driven an electric vehicle before and thought I could save my client a few dollars since it was the cheapest option (my vehicles are hybrids). I selected a Polestar 2 after doing some research before my trip. This vehicle is stated to have a 300-mile range, and since I knew I was not going to be traveling more than 200 miles it seemed like a great chance to try an EV.

The checkout agent gave me some confusing information about needing to bring the vehicle back with a 71% charge even though I had a rental plan that included refueling.  The vehicle was given to me with an 83% charge which irritated me because had it been a gasoline vehicle it would have been completely full; my range anxiety started kicking in immediately.

I very quickly learned that the percentage of charge that is shown on the vehicle is not an accurate reflection of the remaining range. The initial leg of the trip involved driving about 40 miles and the charge dropped from 83% down to 71%. A few short trips later I was down to 32% and I still had some local driving and a trip to the airport to go. At this point I was seriously concerned about making it back to the airport before the car died completely. I now realized I was going to charge this vehicle whether I wanted to or not. 

Time to Call the Rental Car Company

The rental receipt included a $35 electrical recharge fee which I assumed meant I was able to bring the vehicle back at any level of charge. If you’ve never rented a car before, this fee allows you to bring the car back empty, so you don’t have to stop for gas and fill it up before you return it. It usually costs more than if you filled it yourself, but you save time which is very helpful for a busy business traveler.

 It took me some time to get through to a person and the man who helped me had to ask a few other people. Apparently, this is somewhat new to rental companies (recharging vs. refueling), it was determined that I need to bring the vehicle back with at least 10% charge.

I had a very packed business trip and did not have time to find a charging station and sit for an hour or more while the car charged, but it seems I had no choice.

Finding a Charging Station

The refrain I have always heard is that charging cars is easy, public charging stations are EVERYWHERE, especially in Southern California, and I believed it. “Just go shopping or dining while your car charges, it’s convenient.” This is not exactly true.

1. Charging stations are NOT everywhere, they are in some places. You must plan your shopping and dining around where charging locations exist. In a busy 2-mile area of shopping and dining next to a freeway, there was (2) one-car charging stations in one of the shopping centers.
2. There are many brands of charging stations, all requiring that you download their app, make a username and password, and input your credit card information. It is a myth that you just swipe your card and go (although I don’t know why we can’t make it happen!). In my case it still didn’t work, and I had to call the number on the station and answer a bunch of questions to get the station activated.
3. Each brand’s app will show you a map of where THEIR stations are located but not others.
4. Just because a charger is there does not mean it’s available. I found a bank with 4 chargers, all were occupied.
5. Some chargers are not public even though they are publicly accessible. You won’t know this until you have downloaded the app, registered, etc. and try to charge your car.
6. Google maps shows some charging stations but does not tell you if they are available.
7. You may not know how much you are paying for the electricity until you have purchased it. I had no idea what I paid until the charge was shown on my credit card statement.
8. While sitting in the car charging, my phone was not working properly. I don’t know if this is common or not, but it was my experience, and a somewhat concerning one (is it safe to be sitting in the car when it’s charging?)

Once I found a station that was available, there was a Lyft driver there charging his vehicle, and he helped me hook up the car and get the charging station going. (By this time, I was stressed out and certainly not at my best – bless this man for helping me!) We talked while waiting at length about driving electric vehicles.  He does not have a charging station at home, so he charges his vehicle at public charging stations, often charging his vehicle twice per day, spending up to 2 hours of his day waiting (these are the speed chargers).  

He confirmed that you can drive no more than about 150 miles in an electric vehicle before you need to charge it.  He also confirmed that the range is nowhere near as stated by the car manufacturers, which was a really upsetting point for me and I think for many people who hope to move to an EV soon. Anything you do in the vehicle reduces the range, including running the air conditioner, the radio or going up a hill. Seems like false advertising to me.

According to the screen in the Polestar 2 (shown while it was charging) it will only charge 90% which is the recommended rate to preserve the battery over time, so there was never a chance that I was going to get more than 270 miles out of this rental vehicle experience. In fact, I drove only 150 miles total and needed to recharge to make it back to the airport.

I wanted to love this experience, but it was the most stressful rental experience I have ever had, and I have rented a lot of cars.

The car itself was very nice and comfortable. It handled well, but some features were not intuitive.

Important Differences From a Traditional Vehicle

There are some things (at least in this car) that are completely different from driving a gasoline vehicle that I did not expect. I am very glad I did some research on the vehicle before picking it up.

1. It has an option (that was turned on when I picked up the car) where taking your foot off the accelerator stops the car cold as if you applied the brakes. It was scary when it happened, I turned that feature off.
2. Once stopped, you can remove your foot from the brake even on a hill and the car stays put.
3. No turning the vehicle on, just put it in gear and hit the accelerator.
4. No turning the vehicle off either, you just put it in park and get out.

 Moving Forward

I do not recommend renting an EV unless you are up for the charging station hunt and spending your time waiting while the car charges. Whether on a business or personal trip, that is not how I want to spend my time.

An electric vehicle is a great choice if you have a regular commute of no more than 75 miles one way and have a charging station at home. You will need a hybrid for longer trips. It is also a great second vehicle for short range trips and errands, again assuming you have a charger at home. I was really hoping to fall in love and make my next vehicle an EV, but the reality of where we are with EV ranges is disappointing at best.  I will continue to wait.