EV rental cars and billing for charging

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jonathan18

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#312788 17-May-2024 08:12

Quick question: is it standard for a rental car company to automatically bill for any charge put on a rental EV?

We rented a Polestar 2 for a couple of days this week (I enjoyed aspects of the car, but couldn't live with the cabin as a daily driver - too low a roofline, dark interior, bulky console between the front seats, and the 'drivetrain' tunnel making rear legroom with three in the back seat a real issue. I also didn't like the interface, with some aspects such as turning off the aircon really unintuitive; definitely prefer that on our Tesla).

Anyway, I've just been charged an additional $21, and checking the invoice it appears to be for the amount of charge used. This is despite me using my own BP account when charging the car, as opposed to the company's Chargenet account (via the included fob).

Given I could have charged via the included 3-pin EVSE (and did attempt to, but got an error) or (as I did) pay for charging myself, it seems to me that any charging charges they make should be cross-referenced against their own Chargenet bills to ensure they are recouping for actual costs they've incurred (even with what seems like a pretty steep markup - I paid $9.60 at BP).

And, no, this shouldn't be a bill due to bringing the car back at a low charge - we were told to bring it back at 70% and it was 71%...

TIA.

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#3231635 17-May-2024 09:04

"And, no, this shouldn't be a bill due to bringing the car back at a low charge - we were told to bring it back at 70% and it was 71%"

This would have been my first guess, similar to how you need to return ICE car with a full tank. But if that's what they told you then I'd be complaining to them because that seems pretty unreasonable. I've only every rented hybrid though so not sure about standard practice with full EV

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johno1234

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#3231639 17-May-2024 09:18

If you think that's bad, check this out:

Hertz charged a loyal customer a $277 surcharge for gas in a Tesla rental

Scott3

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#3231643 17-May-2024 09:48

Sounds like an error.

What's the normal charge level you are meant to return the car at for that company? - many are 80%.

There instruction to return the car at 70%+ (likley due to the state of charge at pickup) could have been missed in their record system.

Or perhaps they just mixed up cars in their fleet.

On the positive side it is great they give a charge.net fob, setting up apps can be a real chore for overseas visitors.

On the negative side, rental car companies need to move beyond the requirement to return EV's at a set state of charge. (or at least have a fairly cheap option to return the car flat).

Dynamic

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#3231647 17-May-2024 09:56

My first experience renting an EV in Aussie a couple of months ago was an excellent experience. East Coast Car Rentals did not require the vehicle to be returned charged.

Picked it up in Brisbane after checking that my planned usage should be within a full charge, so if I was not able to charge that it should not be a showstopper. As I wanted to give the 'EV experience' a try I planned a charging stop and noted that Australia Zoo had several chargers. I looked in advance about how to pay for these and came up empty handed, so I allowed a little more time on the day to sort this out when we arrived, expecting to see instructions to download an app. It was a pleasant surprise to find their chargers were 'destination chargers'(?) which meant they were free for use while you were visiting the facility. It was an even better surprise that the Tesla charging cable went straight into the Polestar 2.

I set a timer on my phone as a reminder and went back to move the car when it was around 90% charged. This was a minor inconvenience that I happily accepted as a trade off for not having to pay for gas.

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jonathan18

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#3231648 17-May-2024 09:57

Scott3:

Sounds like an error.

What's the normal charge level you are meant to return the car at for that company? - many are 80%.

There instruction to return the car at 70%+ (likley due to the state of charge at pickup) could have been missed in their record system.

Exactly this...

Just got off the phone with the rental company after finally getting through and they confirmed the charge was for the difference between SOC upon return (71%) and their standard requirement (90%!); clearly the 'bring it back at 70%' wasn't recorded. So they'll refund the charge.

Your comment re mixing up info from another rental is pertinent - weirdly the photos of the car's pre-my-rental condition are of a blue Toyota Corolla, vs a black Polestar 2!

jonathan18

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#3231649 17-May-2024 10:05

Scott3:

On the negative side, rental car companies need to move beyond the requirement to return EV's at a set state of charge. (or at least have a fairly cheap option to return the car flat).

Yeah, this would be ideal - as our first opportunity to charge was on the way to the airport, and we were pushing it to get to 70% before needing to check in! 90% and we would have missed the flight...

This wasn't helped by not getting the granny charger working the two times I attempted it - I've never had this issue with an EV before, and something I mentioned to the rental company as it could well be something wrong with the supplied EVSE; I imagine they don't get used too much with rentals so may not have been picked up prior.

Mehrts

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#3231651 17-May-2024 10:09

What was the rental company?

I've hired a couple of Teslas in the past through Avis at Chch airport, and their policy was for the vehicle to be returned with at least 90% of charge otherwise it's a flat $25 (from memory) fee.

Depending on how much people valued their time, I wonder how many people dropped them off with a low state of charge and just took the $25 hit since it's nothing much in the grand scheme of things.

An interesting point to note though, is at the time Avis weren't on-charging the costs of using Tesla Superchargers. In fact, when I asked them, they had no idea and mentioned about ChargeNet! I waited for the final invoice, and each time there weren't extra costs applied for charging..

That may have changed now though.

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Bung

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#3231652 17-May-2024 10:09

There's an Australian article about Hertz limiting Polestars to 90% meaning that most customers can't return at 90% unless charged very close to rental depot.

Edit That would probably apply to any case where the charge limit equalled the return requirement.

jonathan18

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#3231660 17-May-2024 10:20

Bung:

There's an Australian article about Hertz limiting Polestars to 90% meaning that most customers can't return at 90% unless charged very close to rental depot.

Edit That would probably apply to any case where the charge limit equalled the return requirement.

This was rented from Thrifty, which appears to be owned by the same company (Hertz). Polestar's recommendation is to charge to 90% (this is in the charging limit settings), but I definitely could change it to 100% - did the article suggest they'd fixed it in Aus so it couldn't go higher?

That's the key reason I went to the BP just past Chch Airport - I could safely charge to just over 70% and be sure it was still at 70% when I dropped it off!

bagheera

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#3231662 17-May-2024 10:29

Chargenet standard charge setting stops at 80%, you need to know how to tell it to go over 80% which people who are new to EV might not know, plus most car charging slows down a lot over 80% - 90% sound like we will make a lot of extra money with this requirement to me

Bung

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#3231664 17-May-2024 10:30

It did say that setting was locked.

Scott3

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#3231674 17-May-2024 11:13

The 90% requirement seems pretty excessive unless stayed the night nearby, it means a visit to a fast charger close to the return location, and waiting through the slow bit at the end of the charge curve. 75% would be better. means if the user charged to 100% overnight, they could stay up to ~100km away in a modern EV and not need to charge, and if they did need to charge, near the return location they could stop at 80% which is not to bad in terms of speed on most charge curves. If the car goes direct to a new renter 75% isn't insultingly low either, and in most cases it will be able to pick up some more charge via an AC charger at the rental location while waiting for the next renter.

That said a $25 flat rate for returning empty doesn't seem bad at all. Suspect many people just take that option.

CYaBro

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#3231678 17-May-2024 11:45

Same thoughts on the Polstar 2 after I rented one for a week.
Nice to drive but wouldn’t want to live with one as a daily driver, not enough room.

We had to hand it back with 80% charge and that’s what it was at when we picked it up.
Didn’t quite calculate it correctly and it had 84% when we handed it back. 😂

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jonathan18

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#3231680 17-May-2024 11:56

CYaBro: Same thoughts on the Polstar 2 after I rented one for a week.
Nice to drive but wouldn’t want to live with one as a daily driver, not enough room.

We had to hand it back with 80% charge and that’s what it was at when we picked it up.
Didn’t quite calculate it correctly and it had 84% when we handed it back. 😂

Obviously they gave you a refund on the overcharging?!

Base rate for the car was pretty good - about $38 a day, which is just a little more than a Corolla and a bit less than a CX5.

All up, pleased I rented it - not just to avoid having to drive an ICE (only done this once in 20 months - the weirdest experience having to fuel up!) but also the chance to drive a different EV. I was pleasantly surprised at the boot space - way easier to access than a Model 3 (thanks to the hatchback opening) and I reckon a decent amount larger. The looks have really grown on me over the past couple of years - at the start I wasn't at all keen, but now I like it (though best in darker colours like the black car we had).

Jase2985

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#3231957 17-May-2024 19:39

@bagheera:

Chargenet standard charge setting stops at 80%, you need to know how to tell it to go over 80% which people who are new to EV might not know, plus most car charging slows down a lot over 80% - 90% sound like we will make a lot of extra money with this requirement to me

really? first time charging at chargenet last month and didnt know anything like that, mine charged to 93%. I was nearby so was able to get back to the car if someone else pulled up, which they didnt + there was a second charger next to it free.

Where does one find that setting?

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