Why Hertz’s Bet On Tesla Isn’t Paying Off In The U.S.

I was offered a Tesla rental from Hertz and when I asked how it worked and where to charge, the rep shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't know but I had to return it fully charged. The lack of training completely turned me off and I selected an ICE vehicle. If Hertz wants to know why Tesla rentals are failing, they need to look internally.

Here's a crazy idea: put chargers at rental points

How simple is it to understand that no business traveler or vacationer would want to add “finding a charger” to the hassle of their trip?

This report focused a lot on Hertz's business strategy and investor interest, I did not hear much on Hertz's terrible customer service. When a company rents vehicles with a stolen report still on them and gets its customers wrongfully pulled over and sent to jail while they sort things out, I don't know who in their right mind would want to rent from a company like that.

I don’t want to get accused by Hertz for stealing a $60K car.

Here’s another problem… Hertz. A brand that has distinguished itself by falsely overcharging customers, accusing customers of stealing vehicles, and suing customers.

The last thing I want to worry about when renting a vehicle in an unfamiliar area is trying to find a charger. You can't charge at most hotels and air bnbs, and if I'm on a vacation. I don't want to spend my valuable off time waiting hours for my vehicle to charge when I could be enjoying various attractions.

I made the mistake of renting a EV. Only had 30% charge and was all they had in stock (I see why now). Had to wake up extra early to find a charge port to make the meeting. Ruined the whole day. Never again.

Blame the customer seems to be the motto of these corporations

That is such a Hertz move. Buy cars that are too expensive for the rentals they have — push those overpriced cars onto lower priced rentals because you want the cars to be showing revenue but then yell at the local managers when their car costs are out of control as if they are the ones responsible for purchasing.

A common complaint seems to be the requirement to return with charge of 75%. Clearly, more people would rent a Tesla if Hertz lowered the minimum to 30%, and had chargers on site.

This aged like fine milk with Hertz selling off its EV fleet in the US.

This may be a minor issue, but when I was given a choice between EV and gas powered, I didn't hesitate to pick the gas powered. My issues were that I was traveling to a location that I was not totally familiar with in the evening and that I was going to be driving a couple hundred miles. There's already some anxiety there. I didn't want to add the anxiety of range and not knowing if there were charging stations along my route, or if any are at my destination.

I found it alarming that they were reporting cars stolen that were sitting in their lots and having the police arrest the last renter, regardless of the location of the vehicle or the fact that customers had a receipt they got when they turned it in.

It's the charging infrastructure. I had several chances choosing an EV at Hertz at the same price as non-EVs. In both cases I picked hybrids. There are not sufficient chargers at hotels, and when traveling, I'd rather look for a gas station than adjusting my trip for a charging session. It was the right choices for both trips as I took mental notes along the way on charging opportunities - there was simply none.

In the UK, it costs over £100 per day to rent a small petrol powered hatchback. However, you can also rent a Polestar EV for £17 per day, which is worryingly cheap. Clearly there is little to no demand for EVs in the rental market. If there were, you can bet your house that EVs would cost a whole lot more to rent.

The bigger the bankruptcy, the bigger the spending the company promises after reorganization. It is the American way.

I was offered a Tesla as a rental but when the staff said I had to “return it full” that’s crazy stupid

We rented an EV (Tesla) with Hertz last year. Literally the worst rental experience of my life. Not only is Hertz customer service total garbage (we waited FOREVER to get the car we had pre-paid for), but trying to find a charger before our flight was a major headache. I wanted to make a quick stop to shop before our flight, and having to deal with charging prevented that. Still, we gave up (we charged once but the thing lost charge so quickly, we would have had to charge twice), and just took the penalty charge of not bringing it back at the same charge. Never again, for either EVs or Hertz.

Could it be that people renting cars don’t want to waste time looking for charging points in unfamiliar locations and then spending hours, rather than minutes, charging?