Electric vehicles won’t pollute the stunning environs of the Rocky Mountains, but car renters won’t drive them until it’s a simple and relaxing experience.
Photo: Martin Romjue / Bobit Business Media
I behaved like a typical rental car customer at a major auto rental company outlet near the Denver International Airport last May. My wife and I had just left the counter with our luggage and keys to walk out to our rented car on the lot.
When we arrived at the space, I opened the trunk and started loading up our luggage for the 100-mile drive to a resort in Breckenridge. I noticed a lightning bolt symbol on the dash. Then, I saw a round door flap covering an EV plug outlet on the right rear side. I froze. They didn’t?!
Furious, I yanked the luggage out of the trunk as we got ready to lurch our chicken necks and drag our bags back to the counter, demanding an ICE vehicle. How dare they sneak an EV on us for a vacation in the Rockies, which is the last place you want to look for EV chargers?!
Before we stomped off, I looked down at the car’s left side and noticed another round panel door on the rear side: A gasoline nozzle outlet. Oh, it’s a hybrid. Embarrassed, I quickly placed our luggage back into the trunk.
After checking the fuel and electric gauges on the dash, we relaxed and rolled away in our 2024 Dodge Hornet Hybrid for the week. It is powered by a turbocharged 1.3-liter 4-cylinder engine and electric motor, producing 288 horsepower.
I had read too many news articles about EV panic and range anxiety among travelers.
A Reality Check for Rental Fleets
My little episode sums up why EV purchases are flatlining amid broader skepticism and brewing resistance to EVs. The few, the brave, the early adopters already have bought their EVs; the rest of us ICE-clingers are leery of spotty EV charging options and remain cautious consumers. I recently talked to a double-EV owner who admitted he rents an ICE vehicle when traveling beyond his local region.
It underscored the reality that certain questions and challenges must be resolved before EV adoption can secure even a plurality of vehicle purchases.
Rental fleets, given their 24/7 presence in the hands of outside customers, hold the keys to EV legitimacy. All other fleet sectors center their EV operations on duty cycles, fixed routes, geo-fenced areas, limited range usage, and other predictable patterns. EV fleets, however, still involve extra time, oversight, and effort, as they must be on mostly Level 2 charging schedules every night. Meanwhile, one 24/7 fuel pump island can sustain the gas or diesel demand of a fleet at the rate of 3–5-minute fill-ups.
A rental car does not fit any of the above common fleet practices and operations now used for EVs. The customer is an unpredictable user, driving the rental car anywhere at any time. To efficiently handle customer demand, rental fleet operations must turnover returned vehicles quickly instead of taking valuable time to juice them on a Level 2 or 3 charger.
We cannot downplay the serious fallout from Hertz’s disastrous foray into EV fleet vehicles. They couldn’t discount them fast enough last year, and renters still rejected the EVs. The latest reports show a $2.9 billion loss from their EV fleet investment, which has shaken up the executive ranks of the global auto rental conglomerate. The Hertz EV flameout has slowed confidence in EVs and changed the electrification timeline.
That timeline now depends on how far and wide chargers are installed, how short charging times become, how much EV ranges can increase, and how eagerly Americans want to learn and try EVs.
California Serves As The Crucible of EV Potential and Pitfalls
California still stands as the most advanced testing ground for EVs as the adoption and charging infrastructure leader in the U.S. So far, the results are mixed, with formidable hurdles to overcome:
- Electric Overcharge: Electricity rates for California residents are almost twice the national average. That partially offsets the anticipated savings from incentives, rebates, and other tools to motivate EV buyers. Savings from owning and operating EVs are declining as electricity and charging rates rise. EVs require cheap electricity. As the U.S. power grid takes on added demand in coming years, look for rising rates in other states absent new power sources.
- Steady Charging: Aside from costing more than ICE vehicles, EVs are best run with reliable depot- or home-based charging, which costs at least several thousand dollars more for homeowners and many thousands more for commercial fleets. The U.S. also lacks enough EV chargers in the right places.
- Electric Supply and Demand: When you add up the future electric demand expected from electric vehicles, AI data centers, new housing, more electric appliances, and the inevitable population growth, energy sources must encompass more than just solar and wind. As of today, the U.S. power grid clearly lacks enough of the cheap, affordable, plentiful, and diverse energy sources needed to supply a more electric-hungry nation.
- 5,000-Degree Fires: Lithium battery fires are far more dangerous and much harder to extinguish than gasoline auto fires. The fires are intense and burn for hours when an EV battery ignites. E-bike batteries, for example, rank among the leading fire causes in New York City, resulting in 270 blazes that have killed 18 people, the Wall Street Journal reported. Now imagine an electric semi-truck or SUV erupting in continuous flames, burning at 5,000 degrees F. If an electric car erupts in the parking deck of an apartment complex, surrounding vehicles and even the structure could end up consumed.
- Battery Power Storage Risks: A series of battery storage fires across California in recent years has renewed calls for more battery safety and oversight. A massive battery fire in January at a storage facility in Moss Landing, California, touted as the largest of its kind, burned for two days, forced the closure of nearby U.S. Highway 1, and caused 1,200 nearby residents to evacuate, according to news reports. It was the third fire at the storage site since 2021. How will such battery facilities safely supply enough power for all types of electric consumption? Do EV owners need to factor in periodic power disruptions or grid failures? I well remember California’s rolling blackouts during the summer of 2000, long before EVs entered the market.
- Maintenance / Insurance Costs: Although EVs do not require as many parts and repairs as ICE vehicles, maintenance costs more when needed. Sensors and smart technology drive up insurance costs, putting the EV at the mercy of all digital whims and anomalies. One buggy software version can ground an EV.
- Learning By Doing: For rental car companies like Hertz, EV renting will require more education and assurance for car renters. We now know that sending customers a QR code or link to educational videos has flopped. Most car renters don’t want to watch a series of short videos before leaving the lot. They are often in a hurry and eager to get to their destinations. Only mass adoption and continued EV usage among a sizable plurality of the driving public will create the educated insight to use an EV rental seamlessly. Or driving schools could start offering EV classes.
The Freedom Equation on Wider EV Adoption
Overriding all the practical, logistical solutions looms the issue of behavioral psychology. Choosing what type of vehicle you drive is about as personal a consumer decision as what food you like to eat and clothes to wear.
Regardless of political preferences, Americans generally don’t want to be told what to do, think, or buy. So far, the approach to EV adoption derives too much from government mandates. A freedom-minded population does not like to be nagged, nudged, scolded, scared, prompted, shamed, or bullied into electric vehicles.
If you want fleets and consumers to embrace EVs, let them succeed on their own appeal and merits. Millions of American vehicle buyers can collectively make better buying decisions than the politicians, regulators, and advocates pushing EVs. Look at the surge in hybrid vehicle purchases. If you build it right and keep building it better, the customers will come. Did Starbucks get government incentives and credits to grow its market share by rebating its overpriced coffees?
Hybrid Path to More Electric Vehicles
The best scenario for EVs is one of gradual acceptance. Take our 2024 Dodge Hornet Hybrid, for example. It turned out to be one of the best rental cars I’ve ever driven. Its perky acceleration and overall responsiveness enhanced our mountain drives. I saw firsthand the pluses of regenerative braking. I played the game of decelerating and braking to see how many miles of range I could add to the car. And before we returned to the rental car lot at the Denver airport, the smaller 11.2-gallon tank was cheaper to fill.
By the end of the week, that hot little Hornet was my new best friend, and it opened our eyes to the prospect of buying a hybrid vehicle with partial electric power.
Therein lies the state of mind of most motorists: Ready for more efficient and tech-centric vehicles — but not fully electric just yet.
When more rental car customers ask for EVs or don’t resist them in the rental lot compared to an ICE rental, we’ll know EVs have truly arrived in fleet transportation and beyond.