Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) EVs to Go!

It's going to hurt the resale value of them as they flood the market. I guess the attitude to BEV outside loony-left California might be more varied?

Two of us went over to SFO on a business trip last year. Did not bother with a rental as all week was in town so we just used Ubers. We had a spare day on saturday so went to rent a car and Hertz was near the hotel. We walked in and asked if they had anything on a good rate available. The lady offered a couple of things and then said a model 3. My colleague had a Y on order so said yes as the price was okay. We picked it up and it had about 10% charge (was meant to be full on collection) and we could return however we wanted. They had a couple of low power (50Kw?) chargers at the facility and looking at it about 10-14 Tesla's available in the lot. You can see where this is going! So the first hour was spent charging enough to get to the Tesla chargers nearby for a fast charge. It came with a free Tesla account for charging (effectively free fuel?) which was cool.

Anyway we sorted it out then went out, the "self-drive" worked quite well on 101 where they all run in box formation. It was pretty good in a normal Tesla manner but getting the cars prepped and charged seems an issue for them? Ironic really given it was Tesla that put so much thought into delivering the charging alongside the cars in the first place.

I categorise EVs with SUVs and autos, and a few other types of vehicle.....just not interested, not anti, just happy with my own choices.

I agree with DaveW, I tried a Model 3, it left me far from anti, but just not for me at this point in my life.
I do hope that synthetic gasoline is on the market before long, no fossil fuel CO2 but all the fun of ICE engines!
Once it is available playing with tax can be done to encourage its use, with luck fossil gasoline will disappear in 5 years.

I can only assume that when Hertz decided to make a large part of their fleet BEV was when the BEV market was red hot. Let's not forget that up until a few years ago there were only a few offerings available and most coming in within the premium/luxury market and to most it was still a novelty. As touched on above, those who wanted to try it did, realised the pros and cons and upon renting again they rented what worked for them.

I rented cars for a 12 years when I was working between Canada and the US and wasn't being paid to spend time at chargers. There were days I would be covering 400 plus miles in a single day and if I had a BEV during the winter months, well, I would need to charge at least once and again at night.

BEVs are fantastic for the right situation and dare I say, as an owned vehicle. I never understood the draw of a BEV as a rental unless ones visit/holiday/work travel did not require anything more than getting from the airport to the hotel.

I had a VW ID5 for a year and loved many aspects of it but equally struggled with the horrible range it had, especially in the cold and other shortcomings. And this considering I do not drive much these days. Even so, I was charging it 2-3 times a week at home with the minimal use it was getting.

`Give it a few years when the next leap in battery tech should happen and Hertz and the like will be back at it. I do however suspect rental companies, and the general public for that matter, will be clambering to buy an ICE at the last min when the cut off happens.

Yep.

I've owned Astons, Bentley's, Lamborghini's, Morgans, Jaguars... and a Tesla. I have had 45,000 trouble free miles so far in the Tesla, unlike other cars I've owned (including Morgan). The fact that I'm saving over £5k a year on fuel and servicing (comparing it with the car it replaced) is a useful bonus.

Insurance went down this year on the Tesla (after switching providers), the Morgan insurance went up 35%. It hasn't burst into flames either.

But TM is not the place for EV owners, even if they have a Morgan, I get that message loud and clear.

I concur. We've got an EV (Hybrid). The Mrs has had it 11 months, and done 20,000 trouble free miles. However, without the Petrol back up I would have probably torched it myself. I've said many times, the Musk Float experience is very different (infinitely better) to the other brand EV's.

Given the person who started it, administers it and funds it (with thanks to those who donate towards the running costs of the site), owns an EV, I do not agree with this statement.

Like most conversations on TM, there are a multitude of opinions along the entire spectrum of the particular topic; EVs, various governments around the globe and their approach to legislature to protect the environment and how much of a positive impact EVs actually have in a rapidly evolving technology segment are no different.

TM is "the place" for anyone who has a love of Morgan vehicles and as it has grown, so have the areas of discussion outside of that niche. As for what those other areas of interest are, well, that is down to each individual but I have seen a wide multitude of subjects raised and discussed, with mutual respect on both sides. The site, nor the community has put a ring fence around what can, or cannot, be discussed.

The US rental market is about balancing low cost car buys and selling at a certain second hand value. Per CNBC its likely more to do with Tesla price cuts changing the value proposition! I doubt many day renters worry about driving an EV (provided they are delivered charged!)...

I wonder if you get penalised if you return them not fully charged

Hertz Polestar 2 or equivalent: 1 week rental from Gatwick

£120 pounds plus £0.24 per mile. (Add £200 if you take the insurance waver and £60 for emergency recovery!)

Regarding the battery state on return:

We will record the EV’s battery status before you collect the EV and measure it again on your return. To avoid the recharging costs, we ask you to return the EV with at least the same level of charge or 80% (whichever is lower). If you return the EV with a level of charge lower than this, then we will recharge the EV for you. We will charge you for the cost of electricity used to recharge the EV plus a service charge (“Recharging Fee”) . The price per kW/h is indicated on the Rental Agreement and includes the Recharging Fee. If the EV battery status is below 10% on return an additional Service Fee will apply in addition to the Recharging Fee because this increases our turnaround times and involves staff time. Service Fee = +€25 (inc VAT)/sterling equivalent

So presumably if they get a car returned with less than 80% charge, then they will try and recharge before renting it again, but are prepared to send it out with less than 80% charge if they have to.