Electric car hire

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by DFCH-Andy

Alamo were showing EV's (Tesla S) for rental in Orlando back in July however this was only bookable direct with Alamo through the US website... Can't seem to get my VPN to work on the site at the moment to see if they still have it... Its not bookable if you are accessing from the UK.

When I checked a few months ago, there we around 40 Superchargers with many more locations due to come online shortly. Theres chargers at the main Disney car park (No where near enough) and many of the Disney hotels have them.

The CEO of Alamo said they are bringing ev's online at many of their main locations but charging is their main sticking point...

So they are coming. Just need to get those diesel guzzling BMW's banned from sale

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No Teslas showing but for my 3 weeks in Nov/Dec they are showing an electric Nissan Leaf for $1,725

[YorkshireT]

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by Brock

I work with batteries day in and day out. Would you mind telling me which vehicle can complete 300 miles + without a re-charge?
I am not aware of one.
Some EVs can only complete around 75 miles before re-charging.

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Many are in the 200+ miles. To give you an idea, I can drive my Tesla from Leeds to central London without charging. They charge so quickly at Superchargers on top. For example, I drove to London 2 weeks ago, and needed a wee and grab a Costa at Newport Pagnell. So I plugged into the Supercharger whilst I did that- why not. As stated, I can get there without charging, but because it had been in the Supercharger for just 10 mins, I had 35% left when I parked up behind St Paul’s. Free charging in that car park, I was staying overnight so next morning fully charged to drive all the way back. Total cost- about £10, plus £20 parking in Central London.

Driving down next weekend to see Hamilton. Will park at national theatre (£11 for the day).

I did over 1000 miles on a summer road trip no issue. We stayed in Teddington (went to Thorpe Park so charged at Heathrow Hilton Supercharger once and had topped up when we stopped as we would anyway on the way down so arrived with a high charge in Teddington). Then we went to Devon. Finlake had a charger on site. Drove around the area for a week, went quite far some days. Drove back home via Oxford -brief stop as we would have done anyway at Supercharger. Arrived Premier Inn Oxford, then next day went to Bicester village where I arrived with 35% charge. Concierge at Bicester Village plugged me in for free there, 2 hours later when came back to car it was fully charged, drove home to Leeds free (had 35% left when got back to Leeds, so Bicester Village had literally paid my transport home- thanks v much.)

I wouldn’t fancy many of these trips without the Tesla network though.

Also I didn’t take it on my recent trip to Ayr as the charging network once off the motorways up in that area is very poor.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

YT. However this does show that we are nowhere near ready for Electric yet.

[DisneyDante]

Originally Posted by kk20

Im sat next to a chap in the office who has a tesla S, he has had it for about 2 years. We have all gone to him for advice and information. He gets a real world range of around 200 - 250 out of it and it takes 10 hours to fully charge at home. We have a tesla supercharger about 10 miles from the office which puts half charge in about 30 mins, so 125 miles in 30 mins - that is what he does on a daily basis and tops up at home. He has used green flag once to get him to the supercharger, it was a cold day and the range dropped 30 miles as soon as he started, it dropped further. This has happened a couple of times.

For me, that would be continual range anxiety. I commute 80 miles a day (80% motorway), a 40 mile trip plus shopping trips. We also drop the kids off at various clubs, scouts, cadets. I would just about get 10 hours of charge in 3 days a week and about 7 hours for the others. Or I can pull up to any filling station and get 600 miles after 3 mins with my mondeo. Personally I run cars to the ground, im currently driving a 2015 mondeo, it has plenty of life left in it yet. There simply isnt a market for those sorts of electric cars. Even at 13p per mile (fuel cost) I wouldn't make a saving on buying an electric car.

Cost wise, his servicing is the same price as mine but none of the local garages will touch it.

Now this is in the middle of Cumbria, I wouldnt dream of touching an electric car in a foreign country.

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Why doesn't he just charge fully overnight at home? Also, what needs servicing on it? All that needs doing on my car is tyres, breaks and windscreen cleaner.

I have a Model 3, whenever I'm at home it's plugged in. This means that every time I leave home I have 200+ miles of range.

90% of my round trips are less than 200 miles so I never have to think about charging or if I'm going to make it home. The only 10% I just stop off at a supercharger, usually for less than 30 minutes. I do it so infrequently that I suspect I probably spend less time overall charging than I would regularly visiting a petrol station.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

YT. However this does show that we are nowhere near ready for Electric yet.

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Apart from Scotland where off the beaten track I’d be a bit nervous without at accommodation charging, I can go anywhere no issues. Before lockdown I also went to South Coast.

However, without the Tesla network I agree it is difficult. Tesla chargers are both extremely fast, and totally reliable, you even see how many are free as you approach (I’ve never queued but Darts Farm has queue often I hear for Cornwall route) and your car even heats up your battery as you approach if necessary to charge at max speed. You just plug it in, and it works, if you are lowish on juice it can be charging at over 500mph+ although that slows down as it gets more charge.

Basically the gps will route you via the supercharger if needed. Most stops required are 15 mins max, because it charges so quickly to get you to destination. But who doesn’t really stop after 200 miles of driving anyway, you certainly need the toilet at my age. By the time you have gone in the service station and come back out, you are ready to go.

Non Tesla chargers are often unreliable, broken, slow etc which is why I would not fancy it without Superchargers.

Much cheaper to run- my wife has spent £700 servicing her Volvo for 2 years. Me, nothing (there is no service requirement although I had it voluntarily checked, a new aircon filter and a few other checks such as fluids and was charged £200 but I had no need to do that) . No road tax. No congestion charge and about £8 for a full battery. More expensive to buy, but We Buy Any Car will give me 80% of what it cost me tomorrow, and I’ve had it 2.5 years. Demand is through the roof for Model S as you can’t buy them for at least another year.

[kk20]

Originally Posted by DisneyDante

Why doesn't he just charge fully overnight at home? Also, what needs servicing on it? All that needs doing on my car is tyres, breaks and windscreen cleaner.

I have a Model 3, whenever I'm at home it's plugged in. This means that every time I leave home I have 200+ miles of range.

90% of my round trips are less than 200 miles so I never have to think about charging or if I'm going to make it home. The only 10% I just stop off at a supercharger, usually for less than 30 minutes. I do it so infrequently that I suspect I probably spend less time overall charging than I would regularly visiting a petrol station.

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I live in a village of around 30 houses. Each one of us have a commute of around 20-40 miles. Our houses are limited to 80 amps or you can get a dual phase supply of 2x 80 as some people have electric AGAs. There is nowhere near the capacity in the village to supply 30 houses with EV load charging. This is not an isolated area as such, there are hundreds of villages like mine in Cumbria.

He doesnt charge fully at home because the supercharger is close by. What if he needed to go out when he got home? A "full at start" commute to work and back home plus go to supermarket 25 miles away and back" would be close to worrying. EV trips need to have a little more planning.

As for servicing, some people just go for "drop the oil and kick the tyres", some people want a health check for corrosion, damage checks, tyres brakes alignment etc. No local garage will touch his tesla so he needs to go to Carlisle or Kendal to get it serviced annually. You could (of course) service your car yourself, I have an oil filter wrench, tray, I am capable of changing brake calipers (but dont have a ford tool) however I choose to get a garage to do this for me as I value my spare time, the guy I work with knows nothing about cars and hands it to a professional to look over. Not everyone has the same requirement. I have a brother in law with a hybrid, he drives from one end of town to the other, about 3 miles commute in stop start (no buses), this is done on battery alone and would kill a DPF diesel. For me, a fully electric car world would be an utter nightmare of hoping the electric company can beef up the 11kv line to the village as that will nowhere near cope with AGA overnight heat charging and car charging. Luckily the second hand market will be around until I dont need to worry.

My ideal car would be a mondeo size car with full electric and small generator. That way I have zero range anxiety (as it would charge on the go if necessary). This wouldnt get around the polluting side. Speaking of which, I buy second hand cars so keeping them out of landfill, so whilst I pollute petrol fumes I also recycle the bulk of the car. Until there is a healthy second hand EV market (27k for a 2014 Tesla S? No ta, I havent spent 27k on cars and their repairs in the last 20 years!). I paid 5k for my mondeo, it costs me maybe £300 in "odd repairs, servicing, oil, tyres" per year. Depreciation is not an issue for me as im assuming it will be worth nothing when I get rid of it (i.e. when something big goes wrong), the focus before it was 3k and lasted 6 years, the mondeo before that was about 4k.


I can see the appeal if you like shiny new cars every 3 years as a tesla will hold better value than a new ford. Tebay services is our local supercharger and "guy in the office" says it is very good and reliable (as YT said).

Back to the OP, if I were to hire an electric car then I would need a really really good GPS that pinpointed not only where the chargers were but also how many there were. If a hire company had EVs then this would vastly increase the prevalence of them thus needing quite a few charging options.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by kk20

I live in a village of around 30 houses. Each one of us have a commute of around 20-40 miles. Our houses are limited to 80 amps or you can get a dual phase supply of 2x 80 as some people have electric AGAs. There is nowhere near the capacity in the village to supply 30 houses with EV load charging. This is not an isolated area as such, there are hundreds of villages like mine in Cumbria.

He doesnt charge fully at home because the supercharger is close by. What if he needed to go out when he got home? A "full at start" commute to work and back home plus go to supermarket 25 miles away and back" would be close to worrying. EV trips need to have a little more planning.

As for servicing, some people just go for "drop the oil and kick the tyres", some people want a health check for corrosion, damage checks, tyres brakes alignment etc. No local garage will touch his tesla so he needs to go to Carlisle or Kendal to get it serviced annually. You could (of course) service your car yourself, I have an oil filter wrench, tray, I am capable of changing brake calipers (but dont have a ford tool) however I choose to get a garage to do this for me as I value my spare time, the guy I work with knows nothing about cars and hands it to a professional to look over. Not everyone has the same requirement. I have a brother in law with a hybrid, he drives from one end of town to the other, about 3 miles commute in stop start (no buses), this is done on battery alone and would kill a DPF diesel. For me, a fully electric car world would be an utter nightmare of hoping the electric company can beef up the 11kv line to the village as that will nowhere near cope with AGA overnight heat charging and car charging. Luckily the second hand market will be around until I dont need to worry.

My ideal car would be a mondeo size car with full electric and small generator. That way I have zero range anxiety (as it would charge on the go if necessary). This wouldnt get around the polluting side. Speaking of which, I buy second hand cars so keeping them out of landfill, so whilst I pollute petrol fumes I also recycle the bulk of the car. Until there is a healthy second hand EV market (27k for a 2014 Tesla S? No ta, I havent spent 27k on cars and their repairs in the last 20 years!). I paid 5k for my mondeo, it costs me maybe £300 in "odd repairs, servicing, oil, tyres" per year. Depreciation is not an issue for me as im assuming it will be worth nothing when I get rid of it (i.e. when something big goes wrong), the focus before it was 3k and lasted 6 years, the mondeo before that was about 4k.


I can see the appeal if you like shiny new cars every 3 years as a tesla will hold better value than a new ford. Tebay services is our local supercharger and "guy in the office" says it is very good and reliable (as YT said).

Back to the OP, if I were to hire an electric car then I would need a really really good GPS that pinpointed not only where the chargers were but also how many there were. If a hire company had EVs then this would vastly increase the prevalence of them thus needing quite a few charging options.

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A 20-40 mile commute on mine would use 10-20% of the battery. It would recharge that on my home charger in 1 hour ish. I am 25 mile commute and would usually plug my Tesla in every 3-4 days in normal driving, although an alternative is people just keep it ‘topped up’.

For 90% of people who are just doing this type of driving, electric is ideal. You never have to go to a petrol station, keep it topped up at home, go 200 + miles on long journeys if needed. Think about how you really use your car is my advice. If you need to regularly go long distance, go Tesla.

Or save up and buy a Tesla Model S Plaid, unfortunately only coming here in about a year. That beast will do 350 real world miles, and get you 0-60 in 1.9 seconds as well as having all the practicality for a family. Unfortunately I can’t afford one so I’ll stick with my 75D



Watch it in drag mode at 7 mins It beats a La Ferrari with its F1 drive system.

[sunseeker]

Originally Posted by Brock

I work with batteries day in and day out. Would you mind telling me which vehicle can complete 300 miles + without a re-charge?
I am not aware of one.
Some EVs can only complete around 75 miles before re-charging.

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The new KIA EV6 and Hyundai Ionic 5 both have a WLTP (real world range) of 300 miles plus.

Dave

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by sunseeker

The new KIA EV6 and Hyundai Ionic 5 both have a WLTP (real world range) of 300 miles plus.

Dave

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Very nice car. That’s it’s claimed range, I think in real world it will get about 260 which is still excellent.