USA Car Rental EVs?
Discussion
We are planning a USA fly drive holiday next year. From San Francisco. Possibly Avis booked along with BA flights. I do not want an EV we will be doing long distances each day and do not want the hassle of charging every day.
Do the rental companies still have plenty ICE cars? Has anyone experienced booking an ICE car and getting given an EV instead?
Do the rental companies still have plenty ICE cars? Has anyone experienced booking an ICE car and getting given an EV instead?
irc said:
We are planning a USA fly drive holiday next year. From San Francisco. Possibly Avis booked along with BA flights. I do not want an EV we will be doing long distances each day and do not want the hassle of charging every day.
Do the rental companies still have plenty ICE cars? Has anyone experienced booking an ICE car and getting given an EV instead?
Did the same just about a year ago and hooned a 300C for a weekDo the rental companies still have plenty ICE cars? Has anyone experienced booking an ICE car and getting given an EV instead?
If Id have really thought about how much luggage we had Id have bagged a 'stang TBH
EVs are a thing but I dont think you need to sress it
irc said:
We are planning a USA fly drive holiday next year. From San Francisco. Possibly Avis booked along with BA flights. I do not want an EV we will be doing long distances each day and do not want the hassle of charging every day.
Do the rental companies still have plenty ICE cars? Has anyone experienced booking an ICE car and getting given an EV instead?
Yes lots of normal petrol cars available. I’m open to being corrected but I think it’s predominantly Hertz that have an EV heavy fleet in the US. Avis gave me a Tesla in Canada at a downtown location but so far in the US I’ve never been stuck with oneDo the rental companies still have plenty ICE cars? Has anyone experienced booking an ICE car and getting given an EV instead?
Sign up to their loyalty programme and you can take whatever car you want within a class. Very unlikely to get stuck with an EV.
I booked an intermediate or full size about a year ago and got loads of emails about how it was going to be an EV, how and where to charge it etc but when I went to the lot, there wasn’t an EV in sight.
I booked an intermediate or full size about a year ago and got loads of emails about how it was going to be an EV, how and where to charge it etc but when I went to the lot, there wasn’t an EV in sight.
You should never be stuck with an EV that you haven't requested.. Rental car groups are classified by SIPP codes (https://www.acriss.org/car-codes/) and EVs are a distinct group. The BA website for cars is like something from the mid-90s though, so you might need to compare with Avis/Budget direct to see what the group W/V/Z/Y or whatever they use might include.
Be careful of "mystery" car groups as they might use those to offload their EVs.
Be careful of "mystery" car groups as they might use those to offload their EVs.
I've only ever been stuck with a tesla that I didn't book (had booked an SUV!) and that was last summer, before Hertz decided to sell off half the EV fleet.
I'm Presidents Circle level too....it should never have happened, but, it was a very small regional airport location, 1am, and they had just given my car to a Karen who had booked a minivan that wasn't there, and they had genuinely no other cars in the lot besides two teslas, so it was either that or walk several hundred miles.... Thankfully the service recovery after the (awful) rental made up for it.
At SFO you will be fine. Don't stress.
I'm Presidents Circle level too....it should never have happened, but, it was a very small regional airport location, 1am, and they had just given my car to a Karen who had booked a minivan that wasn't there, and they had genuinely no other cars in the lot besides two teslas, so it was either that or walk several hundred miles.... Thankfully the service recovery after the (awful) rental made up for it.
At SFO you will be fine. Don't stress.
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff