Adding EVs to your fleet, and what Hertz got wrong.

I recently caught this video, and immediately thought the title had it wrong.  Renters definitely want EVs.  What are they talking about?

Turns out the video is mostly about Hertz.  Short summary, Hertz was surprised Teslas are expensive to repair and tend to get totaled a lot.  I think most fleet owners with Teslas could have told them if they had asked.  And they got hit by a wave of depreciation they didn’t see coming, but everyone else did.

Adding EVs to your fleet has risks.  Especially if you’re buying brand new Teslas.  But the challenge of EVs actually has little to do with the cars - it has to do with charging.

Renting EVs, both for the fleet and the driver, is all about charging.  The driver experience is their charging experience.  The cars are great fun to drive and loaded with technology, but whether the driver has a good trip or not comes down to charging.  And in charging there are two worlds - Tesla, and non Tesla.

When you buy a Tesla for your fleet, You’re getting everything the video calls out:

• Expensive repairs and long service wait times
• Higher risk of total loss claims
• Unpredictable depreciation schedules.

What you’re trading off for those risks is a fantastic charging experience.  The Tesla Supercharger network is Tesla’s secret sauce - very well built, highly integrated with the car and fairly available.  Tesla drivers have good reason to like their Teslas because of the charging experience.

The non-tesla world is not as good, or even close.  The charger networks are not well run or managed, and the customer experience is pretty bad.  So unless you are ready to help drivers through a charging experience that is not great, cars that are not Teslas are a risky choice.

Hertz and other fleet owners do themselves no favors by requiring high charge levels on return.  That is not practical, and it’s going increase the chances of a negative customer experience.  Figure out a way to let drivers charge on return without penalty, or maybe EVs aren’t such a great idea.