It’s not especially hard on its own, but it does go against existing mindsets, and at a time they are already stressed. Most people that buy an EV, myself included, did all sorts of research before buying. We were pretty sure of what we were getting into long before it was necessary.
Now, imagine you’re traveling. You’re in an unfamiliar city, probably with a packed agenda. You already have to deal with all the things that Tesla (specifically Tesla, not just EVs) does that’s very different and confusing. You’re used to seeing gas stations every few minutes, always on a corner. They’re easy to spot, too, with the giant price signs. You don’t worry too much about planning, because they will have plenty of time to find one when the light comes on, at which point you can just pull in and pay with their Visa/MasterCard.
Except none of that works in an EV, particularly Tesla. The fast chargers are often in large parking lots, and relatively inconspicuous. They may not be anywhere near where you’re going. You have to use the infotainment system to navigate to them, which itself foreign to many drivers. For non-Tesla, you have to search and navigate with your phone. Once you get there, you have to register your payment in that same system. You can’t just slide your card at the pump, and God help you if it’s somewhere with poor signal.
Then on top of all that, you’re stuck waiting in the middle of nowhere for ~30 minutes while it charges. There usually isn’t a Wendy’s or even a bathroom next to these things.
And that’s when it actually works like it should. There are countless stories of broken or blocked chargers for various reasons, so you’ll have to find another charger.
Then to top it all off, you don’t even get to experience the benefits that make EVs worth owning. You probably didn’t get cheap fuel, or the super convenience of it being fully charged when you left in the morning, or the minimum of repairs.
I fully believe EVs are the future, but rental cars are going to be among the last passenger groups to switch.
It’s not especially hard on its own, but it does go against existing mindsets, and at a time they are already stressed. Most people that buy an EV, myself included, did all sorts of research before buying. We were pretty sure of what we were getting into long before it was necessary.
Now, imagine you’re traveling. You’re in an unfamiliar city, probably with a packed agenda. You already have to deal with all the things that Tesla (specifically Tesla, not just EVs) does that’s very different and confusing. You’re used to seeing gas stations every few minutes, always on a corner. They’re easy to spot, too, with the giant price signs. You don’t worry too much about planning, because they will have plenty of time to find one when the light comes on, at which point you can just pull in and pay with their Visa/MasterCard.
Except none of that works in an EV, particularly Tesla. The fast chargers are often in large parking lots, and relatively inconspicuous. They may not be anywhere near where you’re going. You have to use the infotainment system to navigate to them, which itself foreign to many drivers. For non-Tesla, you have to search and navigate with your phone. Once you get there, you have to register your payment in that same system. You can’t just slide your card at the pump, and God help you if it’s somewhere with poor signal.
Then on top of all that, you’re stuck waiting in the middle of nowhere for ~30 minutes while it charges. There usually isn’t a Wendy’s or even a bathroom next to these things.
And that’s when it actually works like it should. There are countless stories of broken or blocked chargers for various reasons, so you’ll have to find another charger.
Then to top it all off, you don’t even get to experience the benefits that make EVs worth owning. You probably didn’t get cheap fuel, or the super convenience of it being fully charged when you left in the morning, or the minimum of repairs.
I fully believe EVs are the future, but rental cars are going to be among the last passenger groups to switch.