Sounds like the front doors could be opened but not the rear, combination of the anti-hijack function and child locks perhaps?

23 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

Well you say that he is a click bait idiot and yet my TomTom route finder has just selected the same route as that he took, Exeter, Gloucester etc right through to Corby. Ok admittedly it does not yet take into account charging points, but that is most certainly the fastest and most direct route, which is exactly the route I would expect that anyone who is getting paid by the trip, rather than by the hour or someone doing that journey for pleasure would take. Don't forget, that it was not his car, he was just taking it from point A to point B for a client.  What about the chargers and the issues he had there then?

 

Renault Zoe should have tyre pressures of 36psi, 40psi is going to cause them to wear incorrectly in the centre of the tread instead of all over the width of the tyre, also result in a car that is going to be more prone to slipping and skidding on wet road surfaces.

 

Mr Head went to Okehampton it seems, less than `100 miles from his starting location in Cambourne and moaned the rapid DC charger was out. he said he left with 165 miles range,  which sounds low, and more some reason, perhaps driving like an idiot, did not make it to Exeter where there are dozen of chargers, only about 25 miles plus much better facilities.

 

Not sure he went from Gloucester, if he went M42 that does not sound the best route, I would have gone M4 and then A34 maybe or Maidenhead up to Beaconsfield or lots of other route ie through Aylesbury or cutting cross country ie not so much motorway, EV drivers with an ounce of sense use Apps such as a Better Route Planner to optimise rather than AA/RAC route-planner or the like.

 

My Zoe uses the 16 inch wheel option which has a "cold" presume they mean ambient, lost in translation, wheel/tyre size and the nominal ambient/cold tyre pressure ie 38 psi.  They creep up in temperature when driving to 40/41/42 psi as they get to that body temperature of around 40C.  Air acts as a semi-perfect gas and for each 10C rise in temperature the air pressure rises by about 1C.  I could get the crappy Conti tyres on the Fabia VRS to be too hot to touch so switch to Mich PS which were much better.

 

Renault advise filling tyres to up to 0.3 bar above "cold", ie ambient, many cars would see around 40 PSI when well warmed after a spirited run and or high load.  TESLAs set their car tyres to be advised to fill up to 3 bar or even 3.1 or 3.2 bar which is 43 to about 47 psi and they get great efficiency and I have not seen issues with bulging and running low on tread in the centre of the tread not did I running tyre pressure around the 40 psi mark, ambient. Renault advice assuming tyres get about 5 psi hotter when tested noty cold.....

https://gb.e-guide.renault.com/eng/Zoe-ph2/TYRE-PRESSURE

 

Most import matter with tyres, I believe, is buying good one ie A wet grip rating and changing them with 3mm of tread on them. Just put Toyo Proxes Conform on from of Zoe after about 17k miles, seem good and half the price of Mich eco tyres ..... https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre/Toyo/Proxes-Comfort.htm   

 

Edited 17 July, 20241 yr by lol-lol

46 minutes ago, J.R. said:

Sounds like the front doors could be opened but not the rear, combination of the anti-hijack function and child locks perhaps?

That is a possibility, but it is also possible that the rear doors are not actually fitted with a mechanical lock as is so common place these days with modern electric cars, opting instead for an electrical system. So many electric cars it seems to have an electrically operated front door locks with a separate mechanical system located somewhere else on the front doors. The problem there is that people get so used to using the electrical one, that in the event of a failure, or an emergency failure, muscle memory will always go to the handle / system that they have been so used to. It also has to be said this such systems, also rely on the driver and their passengers have actually read the owner's manual and are familiar with the location of the failsafe lock system. Telsa is one such make of cars that has this system fitted and many fire depts around the world have been urging them to fit proper systems to all doors and remove the electrical system for safety sake. 

15 minutes ago, lol-lol said:

 

Mr Head went to Okehampton it seems, less than `100 miles from his starting location in Cambourne and moaned the rapid DC charger was out. he said he left with 165 miles range,  which sounds low, and more some reason, perhaps driving like an idiot, did not make it to Exeter where there are dozen of chargers, only about 25 miles plus much better facilities.

 

Not sure he went from Gloucester, if he went M42 that does not sound the best route, I would have gone M4 and then A34 maybe or Maidenhead up to Beaconsfield or lots of other route ie through Aylesbury or cutting cross country ie not so much motorway, EV drivers with an ounce of sense use Apps such as a Better Route Planner to optimise rather than AA/RAC route-planner or the like.

 

My Zoe uses the 16 inch wheel option which has a "cold" presume they mean ambient, lost in translation, wheel/tyre size and the nominal ambient/cold tyre pressure ie 38 psi.  They creep up in temperature when driving to 40/41/42 psi as they get to that body temperature of around 40C.  Air acts as a semi-perfect gas and for each 10C rise in temperature the air pressure rises by about 1C.  I could get the crappy Conti tyres on the Fabia VRS to be too hot to touch so switch to Mich PS which were much better.

 

Renault advise filling tyres to up to 0.3 bar above "cold", ie ambient, many cars would see around 40 PSI when well warmed after a spirited run and or high load.  TESLAs set their car tyres to be advised to fill up to 3 bar or even 3.1 or 3.2 bar which is 43 to about 47 psi and they get great efficiency and I have not seen issues with bulging and running low on tread in the centre of the tread not did I running tyre pressure around the 40 psi mark, ambient. Renault advice assuming tyres get about 5 psi hotter when tested noty cold.....

https://gb.e-guide.renault.com/eng/Zoe-ph2/TYRE-PRESSURE

 

Most import matter with tyres, I believe, is buying good one ie A wet grip rating and changing them with 3mm of tread on them. Just put Toyo Proxes Conform on from of Zoe after 

about 17k miles, seem good and half the price of Mich eco tyres ..... https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre/Toyo/Proxes-Comfort.htm   

 

I have the probably most common route planner and just punching in the start and finish locations it gives me the following directions A30 to Exeter, M5 to Bristol, M49 - M4 - M5 to Tewkesbury - A46 - Coventry - M6 - A14 - Kettering - A6003 - Corby. So that sounds like the same route he took.  I doubt that he is the kind of driver that think he is as he is a professional and relies on his licence to earn his living delivering vehicles all over the UK on trade plates, and as such does have the luxury of getting to know all the inns and outs of each kind of vehicle he drives. So if the vehicle has all the latest maps installed on its nav system or the charging stops etc. Now I don't know how long you have your Zoe for, but you also have to remember that it was only his 2nd time in a Zoe, so there might well have been other setting he could have selected, such as ECO etc, but he did not have the time to research all the things that you have during your ownership of yours.

@lol-lol  165 miles range showing with 71%.

That was the driver previously driving economically that had the 165 miles showing. 

52 kWh usable. X 4 miles a kWh is 208 miles. 

Lets say 36 kWh x 4 = 144 miles.

 

If the 36 kWh was usable to get 165 miles would be over 4.5 miles a kWh required. 

6 hours ago, Ootohere said:

@lol-lol  165 miles range showing with 71%.

That was the driver previously driving economically that had the 165 miles showing. 

52 kWh usable. X 4 miles a kWh is 208 miles. 

Lets say 36 kWh x 4 = 144 miles.      If the 36 kWh was usable to get 165 miles would be over 4.5 miles a kWh required. 

 

In summer and driving fairly non hypermiling 4.5 miles per kW is entirely about average ie ambient temp 15C or more so the Lion has its best capacity to give, I get close to 5 miles per kWh with my experience in driving the Zoe, getting 5 miles per kWh is quite hard to do but I am happy with near 5.

 

Shame he did not start with the usual 80 to 90 % which would have got him to Exeter no sweat.  With the battery at over 90% one cannot get the full regen ie up to 30 kWh to go back in to the battery on any of the junctions or big rolling hills sadly so not the best of starts to be given the car with only 71% SOC, I would have been disappointed.

 

I thought Cornwall had come right into the 21st century with several multi charger sites come on line in the last year including Cornwall service and even TESLA v4 sites such as Lifton with 16 TESLA v4 charges usually charging 55p per kWh rather than go on to Okehampton, one should try and stay up to date, a stitch in time saves nine the orc should learn. 

 

7 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

I have the probably most common route planner and just punching in the start and finish locations it gives me the following directions A30 to Exeter, M5 to Bristol, M49 - M4 - M5 to Tewkesbury - A46 - Coventry - M6 - A14 - Kettering - A6003 - Corby. So that sounds like the same route he took.  I doubt that he is the kind of driver that think he is as he is a professional and relies on his licence to earn his living delivering vehicles all over the UK on trade plates, and as such does have the luxury of getting to know all the inns and outs of each kind of vehicle he drives. So if the vehicle has all the latest maps installed on its nav system or the charging stops etc. Now I don't know how long you have your Zoe for, but you also have to remember that it was only his 2nd time in a Zoe, so there might well have been other setting he could have selected, such as ECO etc, but he did not have the time to research all the things that you have during your ownership of yours.

 

Zoe has realtime Google maps updates and this is good for most charging stations and even if they are being used and not currently free to use. The exception seems to be the TESLA public all vehicle can use V4 chargers like the ones at Lifton Devon on the A30 do not seem to show so clearly but hopefully that will be fixed soon. His route seems reasonable and the Tewkesbury to Coventry a bit different and would suit the Zoe quite well for eco driving.  THE ECO button is right there on the centre console and puts one in the 5 miles per kWh.  Like any auto it is overridden in kickdown and one soon get to 90 mph if one wants to and then take the foot off it rapidly drops to 60-65 and manging several systems to minimise energy consumption. Just like any EV flipping the regen from low to high can make a big difference though I now prefer the megane/scenic system of 4 level of regen via the paddles. 

  

10 minutes of research can save one half an hour to an hour even on a three hundred mile journey. Shame he started with only two thirds or so of a full battery. 

 

4 hours ago, lol-lol said:

 

Zoe has realtime Google maps updates and this is good for most charging stations and even if they are being used and not currently free to use. The exception seems to be the TESLA public all vehicle can use V4 chargers like the ones at Lifton Devon on the A30 do not seem to show so clearly but hopefully that will be fixed soon. His route seems reasonable and the Tewkesbury to Coventry a bit different and would suit the Zoe quite well for eco driving.  THE ECO button is right there on the centre console and puts one in the 5 miles per kWh.  Like any auto it is overridden in kickdown and one soon get to 90 mph if one wants to and then take the foot off it rapidly drops to 60-65 and manging several systems to minimise energy consumption. Just like any EV flipping the regen from low to high can make a big difference though I now prefer the megane/scenic system of 4 level of regen via the paddles. 

  

10 minutes of research can save one half an hour to an hour even on a three hundred mile journey. Shame he started with only two thirds or so of a full battery. 

 

Yes, the dealer for who he was delivering for never prepped the car for the Trip also as George pointed out, the estimated 165 mile range was because the old owner clearly understood EVs and drove it accordingly to max it's range. Mr Head drove it like any normal driver would do with a strange car, maybe with the ECO mode on but not fully understanding how it worked. 

 

My car has ECO mode but I can still manage to get poor MPG if I don't allow it to coast and keep at 70mph.

 

Differances is that I did research my car before buying it, delivery drivers don't normally get that chance, turn up, get given the keys, told what it is, and the address to go go and then they have to do their best to get there at a sensible time to hand the car over to the new owner. I have had many cars delivered to me like that before I took over the purchasing off them, when I did deals with local dealers and I collected them myself. 

Edited 18 July, 20241 yr by Graham Butcher

11 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

I have the probably most common route planner and just punching in the start and finish locations it gives me the following directions A30 to Exeter, M5 to Bristol, M49 - M4 - M5 to Tewkesbury - A46 - Coventry - M6 - A14 - Kettering - A6003 - Corby. So that sounds like the same route he took.  I doubt that he is the kind of driver that think he is as he is a professional and relies on his licence to earn his living delivering vehicles all over the UK on trade plates, and as such does have the luxury of getting to know all the inns and outs of each kind of vehicle he drives. So if the vehicle has all the latest maps installed on its nav system or the charging stops etc. Now I don't know how long you have your Zoe for, but you also have to remember that it was only his 2nd time in a Zoe, so there might well have been other setting he could have selected, such as ECO etc, but he did not have the time to research all the things that you have during your ownership of yours.

ah these were the days lol

I am a 3.5 miles to the kWh type of driver on whatever bev I drive other than when trying to better that.   Any electric car I get in I just work it out as doing 3 miles a kWh and anything better is a bonus.    Reviewers pee me off quoting WLTP and range when they are driving like anyone else might and are not getting 5:miles a kWh.     Pi$$ing down today.  Good for my efficiency.  Crap for going to enjoy a golf tournament.  Going for a scoot round the South west 300 instead.     So sitting at 100% and need at least 3 planned chargers to be working.    Last 100 mikes worths of charging away from home had been £12, £12, and £9.50.  that is pretty much the cost of an ICE vehicles fueling.  I had to use a 11 kW AC charger for 30 kWh of charge and that took 2 hours 40 minutes.  13% to 100%, 12 miles to 107 miles showing. 

Edited 18 July, 20241 yr by Ootohere

@Winston_Woof, Oo, I used that many years ago, then I decided to buy a portable NAV system and got my self a TomTom with live traffic updates which also with comes PC software and route finder so you can plan your route on a PC and then over the internet, send it to the TomTom in the car or as in the case delivery drivers I suspect that they use something like TomTom which is available for mobile phones as well. Not all cars come with SatNav and the drivers have to have a system that they can rely on.

5 hours ago, lol-lol said:

 

In summer and driving fairly non hypermiling 4.5 miles per kW is entirely about average ie ambient temp 15C or more so the Lion has its best capacity to give, I get close to 5 miles per kWh with my experience in driving the Zoe, getting 5 miles per kWh is quite hard to do but I am happy with near 5.

 

Shame he did not start with the usual 80 to 90 % which would have got him to Exeter no sweat.  With the battery at over 90% one cannot get the full regen ie up to 30 kWh to go back in to the battery on any of the junctions or big rolling hills sadly so not the best of starts to be given the car with only 71% SOC, I would have been disappointed.

 

I thought Cornwall had come right into the 21st century with several multi charger sites come on line in the last year including Cornwall service and even TESLA v4 sites such as Lifton with 16 TESLA v4 charges usually charging 55p per kWh rather than go on to Okehampton, one should try and stay up to date, a stitch in time saves nine the orc should learn. 

 

Yes, a stitch in time saves nine, if you have prior knowledge of the car and have the time to invest, but sometimes these chargers are not on the road that the fastest and most direct route takes you, when you're trying to hit the delivery time slot at the receiving end of the drive. For instance, I once had a new car delivered to me while attending a sales meeting at a hotel in West Bromwich so the driver had to make sure that he would be there on time, otherwise I'd be gone. The car had come from a dealer in Swindon and I live in Chelmsford and the sales meeting had been urgently arranged for same day as my new car was supposed to delivered to me at home. The driver had to take my old car back with him to go to the BCA auction site.

 

So its like I always say when people claim that these YouTubers that do these challenges like the McMaster claiming he had charging problems etc and people here come out and claim otherwise, unless you are there at the time and know just how these things at the time unfold, it is easy to criticize when you don't have the full facts. After all I could be following you along the same route just a couple of cars behind you and someone can "T" bone me from a side road putting my car out of action so few seconds here or there can make a huge difference to the final outcome of the event. 

Edited 18 July, 20241 yr by Graham Butcher

56 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

I am a 3.5 miles to the kWh type of driver on whatever bev I drive other than when trying to better that.   Any electric car I get in I just work it out as doing 3 miles a kWh and anything better is a bonus.    Reviewers pee me off quoting WLTP and range when they are driving like anyone else might and are not getting 5:miles a kWh.     Pi$$ing down today.  Good for my efficiency.  Crap for going to enjoy a golf tournament.  Going for a scoot round the South west 300 instead.     So sitting at 100% and need at least 3 planned chargers to be working.    Last 100 mikes worths of charging away from home had been £12, £12, and £9.50.  that is pretty much the cost of an ICE vehicles fueling.  I had to use a 11 kW AC charger for 30 kWh of charge and that took 2 hours 40 minutes.  13% to 100%, 12 miles to 107 miles showing. 

 

Being a thermodynamics nut I a constantly scour the road conditions and other vehicles, it becomes a in journey game to maximise the mileage, looking for the aero tow for that transit van that is doing the sweet spot of about 65 mph, looking for the stickers that say 70 mph, or 68 mph or similar on the back of the vehicle. Bit sad I kn ow but it keeps me amused and sharp during the journey. Some disappointment is that I rarely get to public charge ie 4 times in nearly 20k miles despite doing 200 mile round trips.  Zoe is the queen of long distance EV trips, not the quickest to charge via DC, one of the best by AC if you can find 11, 16 or 22 kW AC. 

 

I will miss the Zoe when I trade it in within a few months for the Scenic, still split on whether to get the 60 kWh or the 87 kWh version, the latter being an easy well over 300 mile range EV, heat pumps as standard, predictive preheating of battery to get maximum charge rate, it will  deprive me of one of my favourite games. 

 

I see TESLA owners are being offered 30 to 50 mile range extension by having a BMS update, $1000 in the US.  worth a thought for most I suppose.  TESLA just raised prices in EU to counterbalance new import tariffs, UK model 3 SR+ still just under £40K RRP. 

   

1 hour ago, Graham Butcher said:

After all I could be following you along the same route just a couple of cars behind you and someone can "T" bone me from a side road putting my car out of action so few seconds here or there can make a huge difference to the final outcome of the event. 

Also @lol-lol - Or the scenario reverses; Lead gets t-boned, and the car is now out of action. Chase is a primary witness and going nowhere either until the Police allow them to.

2 hours ago, lol-lol said:

 

Being a thermodynamics nut I a constantly scour the road conditions and other vehicles, it becomes a in journey game to maximise the mileage, looking for the aero tow for that transit van that is doing the sweet spot of about 65 mph, looking for the stickers that say 70 mph, or 68 mph or similar on the back of the vehicle. Bit sad I kn ow but it keeps me amused and sharp during the journey. Some disappointment is that I rarely get to public charge ie 4 times in nearly 20k miles despite doing 200 mile round trips.  Zoe is the queen of long distance EV trips, not the quickest to charge via DC, one of the best by AC if you can find 11, 16 or 22 kW AC. 

 

I will miss the Zoe when I trade it in within a few months for the Scenic, still split on whether to get the 60 kWh or the 87 kWh version, the latter being an easy well over 300 mile range EV, heat pumps as standard, predictive preheating of battery to get maximum charge rate, it will  deprive me of one of my favourite games. 

 

I see TESLA owners are being offered 30 to 50 mile range extension by having a BMS update, $1000 in the US.  worth a thought for most I suppose.  TESLA just raised prices in EU to counterbalance new import tariffs, UK model 3 SR+ still just under £40K RRP. 

   

I admit that I also tend to do similar especially on the homeward leg after a day out as the is no deadline to hit but on the outward leg of the trip I do tend to drive normally especially if going to an air show etc otherwise you get only a spot right at the back of the crowd line and is not as good for photography or indeed parking also tends to be miles away requiring more walking than I'd like.

 

The best MPG I have managed so far is 71.7mpg using the tow of a truck doing 65mph on the M11.

On 18/02/2024 at 13:46, wyx087 said:

It's clear Hertz way of operating is not friendly to EV renting and generally gives a bad experience. Requiring 80% on return and forgetting to provide public charging roaming RFID.

 

The more friendly way is to have destination charging at drop off, require drop off at above 30% and only dash out penalty if the car wasn't plugged in. The car can be geo-fence auto set to 80% to preserve battery health in case it doesn't get rented straight away.

Regarding rentals, I hired a car from Europcar at Faro airport. They had a row of AC charge points at pick-up location. On pick-up, also advised how to public charge (use Miio app) and Tesla car's supercharging/return SoC policy. This is the way to do it properly.

 

I rented a "Tesla Model 3 or similar", got a 2023 long range made in China car. It's slightly smaller than my Model Y, but I think it's ample for our needs. One thing I didn't like is the lip in the front footwell just behind the pedals. It is obvious that's where the battery begins. Resting my foot flat on the battery whilst on autopilot feels like my knees were in my chest. 

 

Best part of rental is that there is absolutely no fuel cost. Tesla supercharging is part of package and I can return the car at any charge level. I drove ~450 km in total, due to using "keep climate on" feature a few times, I needed a quick 10min top up at supercharger. Picked up at just over 90%, returned at 20%. Only costed me £180 all in for 5 days (didn't pay for rip-off additional insurance of course, got a £40 annual hire car insurance insurance). Car also had on-going premium connectivity, so in-car music was instantly sorted with ad-free Spotify. 

https://www.europcar.co.uk/en-gb/p/car-rental/fleet/brand/tesla

Hiring a petrol car and driving 280 miles would have cost £40 in fuel alone at 14p/mile in UK, Portugal fuel prices look similar in number (~1.50 euros per litre). Similar <£200 price automatic petrol cars are Polo or similar size. £150 could only get a petrol auto super-mini when I was booking. Needing automatic made rentals expensive. 

 

There's a few minor things Europcar could have done better. Software running on it was about 6 months out of date. The computer vision parking assist was not as good as latest software in my car. So I paired my phone and sat in the car for 30min to download the update. Europcar reps also did not understand nor had procedure to give me Tesla app access to the car, so every time returning to the car needed to wait a minute or so for air-con to cool the car and needed to fish out the keycard to lock/unlock/drive. Thankfully I was able to pair my own Tesla keycard with the car giving us 2 keys rather than 1.  (deleted it when returning of course) 

 

That family friend who drives GLC with us to Scotland went to Lisbon first, met with us for 2 nights. They rented a "Zoe or similar" EV from Europcar, got a Jeep Avenger. But experience was not as good, it was their first time driving EV. During the drive from Lisbon to south coast had problem starting a charge using Portugal/Spain's Miio app due to mobile network coverage. They are also required to return at 50% or higher. Hotel had 4 AC charge points and it works with my Shell recharge card, around the corner was 2 AC charge points that works with Octopus Electroverse. So they kept the car topped up without trouble once they got over here and I lend them my cards. 

 

Interesting how AC charging payment works over there: 20c connection, 10c per minute and then 15c per kWh. The time element made sure people moved their car and the charge point was always available. I like it. 

 

Overall, I'd highly recommend checking out EV rentals if you have some EV charging experience and have the RFID cards/apps (all free to sign up). The cost is probably cheaper and renting Tesla with Europcar's policy are definitely cheaper.

 

 

 

 

 

15 minutes ago, wyx087 said:

Regarding rentals, I hired a car from Europcar at Faro airport. They had a row of AC charge points at pick-up location. On pick-up, also advised how to public charge (use Miio app) and Tesla car's supercharging/return SoC policy. This is the way to do it properly.

 

I rented a "Tesla Model 3 or similar", got a 2023 long range made in China car. It's slightly smaller than my Model Y, but I think it's ample for our needs. One thing I didn't like is the lip in the front footwell just behind the pedals. It is obvious that's where the battery begins. Resting my foot flat on the battery whilst on autopilot feels like my knees were in my chest. 

 

Best part of rental is that there is absolutely no fuel cost. Tesla supercharging is part of package and I can return the car at any charge level. I drove ~450 km in total, due to using "keep climate on" feature a few times, I needed a quick 10min top up at supercharger. Picked up at just over 90%, returned at 20%. Only costed me £180 all in for 5 days (didn't pay for rip-off additional insurance of course, got a £40 annual hire car insurance insurance). Car also had on-going premium connectivity, so in-car music was instantly sorted with ad-free Spotify. 

https://www.europcar.co.uk/en-gb/p/car-rental/fleet/brand/tesla

Hiring a petrol car and driving 280 miles would have cost £40 in fuel alone at 14p/mile in UK, Portugal fuel prices look similar in number (~1.50 euros per litre). Similar <£200 price automatic petrol cars are Polo or similar size. £150 could only get a petrol auto super-mini when I was booking. Needing automatic made rentals expensive. 

 

There's a few minor things Europcar could have done better. Software running on it was about 6 months out of date. The computer vision parking assist was not as good as latest software in my car. So I paired my phone and sat in the car for 30min to download the update. Europcar reps also did not understand nor had procedure to give me Tesla app access to the car, so every time returning to the car needed to wait a minute or so for air-con to cool the car and needed to fish out the keycard to lock/unlock/drive. Thankfully I was able to pair my own Tesla keycard with the car giving us 2 keys rather than 1.  (deleted it when returning of course) 

 

That family friend who drives GLC with us to Scotland went to Lisbon first, met with us for 2 nights. They rented a "Zoe or similar" EV from Europcar, got a Jeep Avenger. But experience was not as good, it was their first time driving EV. During the drive from Lisbon to south coast had problem starting a charge using Portugal/Spain's Miio app due to mobile network coverage. They are also required to return at 50% or higher. Hotel had 4 AC charge points and it works with my Shell recharge card, around the corner was 2 AC charge points that works with Octopus Electroverse. So they kept the car topped up without trouble once they got over here and I lend them my cards. 

 

Interesting how AC charging payment works over there: 20c connection, 10c per minute and then 15c per kWh. The time element made sure people moved their car and the charge point was always available. I like it. 

 

The takeaway with rental companies is that they only have EVs for rent because they probably are in receipt of incentives and because they have been hoodwinked into believing that there is a far greater demand for with rental customers, which clearly is false, and the overriding takeaway is that they are only interested in making money, not in making sure the renters see the cars at their very best to promote a bigger EV take up.

Tesla Power

Gullwing beauty

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwtYN4wJWjU

Edited 19 July, 20241 yr by Winston_Woof

43 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

The takeaway with rental companies is that they only have EVs for rent because they probably are in receipt of incentives and because they have been hoodwinked into believing that there is a far greater demand for with rental customers, which clearly is false, and the overriding takeaway is that they are only interested in making money, not in making sure the renters see the cars at their very best to promote a bigger EV take up.

I believe that is the case for Hertz. Hence worse than expected take up. Requiring 80% SoC on return is pointless ICE thinking. I'm not at all surprised at their EV losses due to their poorly thought out policies.

 

Europcar seems have adopted for EV rentals (on-site charging, local charging advices and lower return SoC requirement). Apart from Tesla specific things (OTA updates, app access), they seem to be offering a very good service. The Jeep Avenger rental require returning at 50% was easily done, charged to 100% at hotel, then drove to and around Faro during the day, hand the car back in the afternoon.

 

If I rented a non-Tesla, I would not have any problem public charging using Octopus Electroverse. Problem only arose for them because they didn't had a quick look at charging before picking up the car. Preparing and getting a good roaming RFID card in UK would have solved the rapid charging issue.

 

I'm not sure if it's right needing rental company to provide local RFID cards when a large portion of charging cost is time based.

 

End of the day, charging is not going to be an issue for any existing EV drivers.

@wyx087maybe they don't want to invest in a whole series of chargers at their depots, that may be because they already have supply issues, or they really don't think that EVs are really here to stay? How many rental companies actually have their own fossil fuel pumps, let me guess, none?

Edited 19 July, 20241 yr by Graham Butcher

1 hour ago, Winston_Woof said:

Tesla Power

Gullwing beauty

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwtYN4wJWjU

At a quick glance it has so much better styling than many of the new BEVs but I think they have really gone overboard on the unnecessary bling.

8 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

@wyx087maybe they don't want to invest in a whole series of chargers at their depots, that may be because they already have supply issues, or they really don't think that EVs are really here to stay? How many rental companies actually have their own fossil fuel pumps, let me guess, none?

Look, I'm not here to argue and try to change your opinion.

 

Fact of matter is, Europcar I saw and experience is much better adopted for EV in every way than Hertz that was reported.

It is not the first time businesses (in this case Hertz) were unsuccessful in adopting new tech through ridge policies, subsequently facing financial losses.

35 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

At a quick glance it has so much better styling than many of the new BEVs but I think they have really gone overboard on the unnecessary bling.

I think it was meant to be OTT rather than a daily driver lol