Hertz and Tesla recently announced a deal that shook the rental car world: Hertz, coming out of bankruptcy with new owners in place, stated that they would purchase 100,000 Tesla Model 3 EVs for their rental fleets nation-wide. Hertz claims that this is part of an overall electrification plan which will “democratize” access to EVs, while Tesla gets a major revenue (and stock) boost.
As someone who has rented cars through the years, both for business and pleasure travel, I can easily imagine myself, fresh off a plane and in an unfamiliar town, staring at various choices while leaning against the rental car counter. “Do I want to save a few bucks with the Asian econocar, move up to numbing comfort with a domestic mid-size car, or splurge on a Tesla I’ve never driven before?” Both Hertz and Tesla are hoping you choose the latter, in large part to give you a favorable impression and sway your next vehicle purchase decision.
If it were me, my decision would depend on several factors. Am I by myself or with family? Will I be staying locally or will I be driving some distance away from the metro area? And do I want to invest any of my travel time learning how to operate an unfamiliar car? Let’s tackle these one at a time.
Am I traveling solo or am I with the family on vacation? With a spouse and children along, I would be less inclined to go the electric route. I need to devote my time and attention to my family and not juggle multiple balls by trying to find a charging station while my youngest one is having a tantrum. If I were on a business trip, though, I would be more inclined to try out the Tesla. After all, my company is paying me to travel, and I can afford to put forth some effort in learning about new technology.
How far will I be driving? The further I plan to travel, the more that the dreaded “range anxiety” becomes a factor. While Tesla has done a great job with its supercharger network, I’m still a stranger in a strange land. Driving into remote areas I’ve never explored before might be enough for me to say “I’ll take the gas engine, please”. However, if it’s a typical business trip (airport / hotel / meeting / dinner / airport) then the EV experience could be fun. Since I’m staying in the area, I would also expect that access to a charging station will be a little less stress-inducing.
How much time do I want to spend learning a different control set-up? I’ve answered this with my previous comments, meaning, if I’m with family and driving a lot, I’ll want to avoid any learning curve.
Others will have different opinions about the desirability of an EV rental car. For me, composing answers to these questions was a fun exercise and shows me that I’m open to an EV rental for business trips, but not for personal rentals such as family vacations. Even if other renters feel the same as I do, Hertz will still find plenty of takers, as a large percentage of their annual rental business is generated by business travelers. Will the Hertz-Tesla deal be a success? It likely will, and it will be interesting to watch if Tesla has a sales spike which can be attributed to the rental accessibility of its vehicles.