I'd be interested to hear from a Tesla owner on this. Maybe it's a non-issue.
>I'd be interested to hear from a Tesla owner on this
Not a Tesla owner, but I did take one for a 30 minute test drive. There wasn't really any learning curve except for that when you let your foot off the accelerator (gas?) pedal, the regenerative braking kicks in, and you start slowing down very quickly. I didn't touch the brake pedal for the whole drive. Got used to it in a few minutes.
The hardest thing for me was the cruise control. Only a subset of autopilot features were enabled and I found it a bit difficult to operate.
Hence why many non-car electrified rides disable Regen braking in Eco mode when your not accelerating or braking as keeping that mechanical energy & momentum is much more efficient than paying the conversion penalty to turn it back into electricity.
You can "coast" with regen on, you just need to balance the accelerator at the point where you aren't adding power, but the car isn't taking power away.
You won't see any green or black on the power usage bar.
Coming down long mountain roads, it's somewhat easier than coasting in an ICE and having to continually shift down gears or ride the brakes (which is obviously bad).
You're still thinking of pressing the accelerator as "open the throttle on the carburetor this much". On modern cars these days, pressing the accelerator is really more like "I'd like to go this fast", especially in electric cars. Its a vastly different experience.
I don't think I've actually touched my brake pedal in the last 2,000mi in my electric car, and I drive almost exclusively city driving on it.
I have not seen coasting modes to be more efficient than single pedal on my own electric car.
I'm hoping their car was actually broken in some way, because I'm assuming they had owned a license for decades at that point.
However, I'm pessimistic and curious if some people just learn to drive with the constant coasting on and off the throttle? Maybe it's an international thing? I'm not sure but I will never forget that ride!
Can't be good for their gas mileage (and hence profits!)
Me too. I actually looked into that a few months ago. In Boston Massachusetts, there is this place: https://www.teslarents.com/
But we were going to San Francisco not Boston, and there was nothing that I could google up. With the exception of Oslo, Norway; I've never seen so many Teslas as I did in the Bay area, but it seemed really hard to rent one for a few days.
Maybe by the next time that I'm there a Tesla 3 will be standard at Hertz, but in 2021 you'll be lucky to get a Nissan. The competence and availability of even that, was low.
It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend renting one.
In any case, I don't think it would have worked for us, we handed the car back days later, in a different city. Which is fine for Hertz, but probably not for a Turo "host"?
It's likely that by the next time we're there, things will be different.
In my area there are multiple Chrysler 300Cs that are "available" to rent for $600/day.
Except they're not available. They're actively being rented for weeks on end.
Would be a great plan if you were a dealer. Have one of your customers rent your car for $600/day (no legit customer will pay that for a 300C), and you launder cash. Best part is you don't even need to actually rent out your car - they're not going to complain that they didn't get a car, because they never needed it.
https://support.turo.com/hc/en-us/articles/203991040-Choosin... says:
> You’re not able to set one location for pickup and a different location for drop off when you book your trip. But once the trip is booked, you can request to change your delivery pickup or drop off location. Once the trip is in progress you can still request to change the drop off location. The new location must be one where the host already offers delivery, or it must be within their custom delivery radius.
With these the big issue would be charging them - people might not know not to go to a gas station.
Also wonder how the “full tank” policy will work with EVs where ideally you want to hover around 80%
Where they might not be suitable rental cars is the reliability. There are some horror stories where people wait 6+ months for their cars to be fixed, based on parts availability, but Hertz probably has some service requirements built in the contract.
I thought for electric cars, that's already baked in? in other words, the car displays 100% and stops charging, but the battery is actually 80% charged. Also, I think for electric cars, they'll waive the "full tank" requirement or charge you a reasonable amount to make up the difference (cost of electricity plus a small markup). I sure as hell don't want to spend 30 minutes at a charging station the morning of my flight.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/20/tesla-switching-to-lfp-batte...
TESLA
These Electric Vehicle Rental Terms (“Rental Terms”) are between The Hertz Corporation (“Hertz” or “us”) and You and apply to a rental of an electric vehicle (“EV”) from Hertz. An EV is defined as a vehicle that exclusively uses battery power rather than gasoline or diesel fuel. These Electric Vehicle Rental Terms are in addition to the Terms and Conditions of the Rental Agreement applicable to your rental.
CHARGE LEVEL AT PICK-UP AND RETURN– Hertz will endeavor to provide the EV at time of vehicle pick-up with a battery charge of 80%. You are required to return the EV with a minimum charge of 10%. You are responsible to maintain a sufficient charge on the EV during your rental. You will be responsible for the cost of any tow if the EV is not drivable due to a low battery. You are not authorized to call a private tow on Hertz’ behalf. All tows of the EV must be by flatbed and must be arranged through Hertz Emergency Roadside Assistance.
RANGE – Range is the estimated distance an EV can travel on a single charge. The EV information provided with your reservation that describes a range is not guaranteed. The battery life of the EV is impacted by a number of factors including weather, driving and road conditions. It is your responsibility to ensure the EV has sufficient remaining battery life to return the EV to Hertz or reach an EV charging station.
CHARGING DURING RENTAL – Subject to Tesla’s terms and conditions, Tesla EV’s are able to access Tesla Superchargers to recharge the EV. If You use a Tesla Supercharger to recharge the EV during your rental, that cost will be billed back to Hertz and added to your rental charges. These charges may not appear on the final invoice and may be added later due to processing time. Battery charging limit on a Tesla should be set at 90% maximum. You may recharge the EV at other public or private charging locations at your own cost. You may also have to register and incur a fee at certain of these locations. You are responsible for any registration (including accepting terms and conditions and privacy policy) and any fees. If You do not move the EV promptly from the charging stall when it is finished charging You may incur an Idle fee for the time the EV remains in a charging stall after it is finished charging. You are responsible for and will indemnify Hertz for any Idle or similar fee incurred when the EV is on rent to You.
DAMAGE TO CHARGING STATIONS – You are responsible for any damage to the EV, the charging station equipment or the charging location when charging the EV during your rental. You will indemnify Hertz for any charges, fines, or penalties You incur for any damage or loss to the EV, the charging station or location during your rental.
EQUIPMENT – The EV will be provided to You with certain equipment for which You are responsible. You are responsible to notify Hertz if any of the following equipment is not with the EV at the time of pick up. Otherwise, You will be charged for any missing equipment at return. Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) does not apply to damage or loss of the equipment provided with the EV.
Key card or fob – You are responsible to return the Key card or Key fob upon your rental return. If the Key card or fob is damaged or lost, You will be charged to replace the Key Card or fob and a service fee. The Key card or Key fob must only be used to charge the EV You have rented. Sharing the Key card or Key fob, using additional Key cards or Key fobs to charge the EV, or charging other vehicles is prohibited. Any misuse of the Key card or Key fob in breach of these Rental Terms will result in additional usage charges.
Tesla Charging Kit – The Tesla Charging Kit consists of 1 Mobile Connector; 1 Storage Bag; and 1 NEMA 5-15 Adapter. You are responsible to return all contents of the Charging Kit upon your rental return. If the Charging Kit, or any part of the contents are damaged or lost, You will be charged for a complete Charging Kit, as these items are not available to be replaced individually, and a service fee.
J1772 Adapter – You are responsible to return the J1772 Adapter on your rental return. If this Adapter is damaged or lost, You will be charged to replace the Adapter and a service fee.
DASH CAM AND PERSONAL DATA – The EV may be equipped with a Dash Cam which may record incidents involving the EV during your rental and privacy is not guaranteed. You are responsible at return to delete all personal data input by You or collected by the EV during your rental.
The driving with regen is if anything similar to a dodgem car.
I have a model 3 but I forget this crap all the time. They'll need to provide decent documentation beyond the touch screen (and I'm sure they will).
And I kind of doubt they’re going to let you pair it with a phone key to the normal Tesla app like you own the car.
Imagine you've been playing on a 60hz refresh rate monitor forever. Then, you play your favorite fps on a 120hz refresh rate monitor.
That's what the difference feels like.
Gas automatic cars :)
Mostly I'm thinking of the situation where you break to a stop. In a manual, you have pushed in the clutch so the wheels are completely disconnected from the engine, giving zero creep when you release the brake, whereas in an automatic the car will start to creep.
Having to do a full reset of the head unit after every customer isn't really a good option.
And I'm pretty sure they'll tap in to the car telemetry and they WILL know if you've been doing quarter mile runs on their car =)
Tesla's navigation software will show charging locations, as well as add stops automatically if you're planning a route that's too far for the current state of charge.
Plugshare is a good site for finding chargers of all types.
I also suspect they will have lower backend operating costs and potentially cost drivers less on additional insurance since they can operate in FSD and put the liability on Tesla.