Item — HN Reader

Rented a Kia EV6 and had to spend 3+ hours trying to charge it. Joined several charging networks--one crazy network signup made me put in the damn VIN from the windshield. Several stations failed to ever start charging. All this to put energy in a car I had for a day. It was miserable. I completely understand why no one wants to ever rent an electric car. I'm as EV as they come and I'll never, ever do that to myself again.

EVs could work as rentals but it would have to be a total end-to-end experience, thought out with the actual customer in mind. An app for a specialized car already paired to your phone and easy to charge on the Tesla network by just plugging in.

4 comments

I’ve rented Teslas from Turo three times and the experience was seamless and delightful. The car was dropped off and picked up from my house and everything just worked. Phone keys, supercharger access, full charge when dropped off (basically).

I think the traditional rental places are just incompetent or under investing.

Charging networks are a huge problem that may require regulation to fix. The hodgepodge of networks is awful. Tesla still has a big advantage here.

EV charging standardization in Europe has lead to good charger compatibility and more investment into and development of the EV infrastructure.

All brands of car can charge on all brands of charger as Nature intended. It's just better infrastructure.

Incompatible, brand exclusive charging stations are dumb infrastructure and no good for anyone.

That’s what I was talking about. Just pointing out that in this environment the one company that took it seriously had a huge advantage from doing so.

An open version of the Tesla system is now standardized as NACS and hopefully will take over. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

> An app for a specialized car already paired to your phone and easy to charge on the Tesla network by just plugging in.

No. No apps, no charging network accounts, no brand lock in or lock out.

Contactless payment is the minimum acceptable standard (also having the ability to pay by cash would be even better). You can still have your app if you want to but everyone must be able to pay without signing up for apps and accounts from multiple charging providers just to put electricity in a car battery.

I don't have an app to fuel my ICE vehicle, I shouldn't need one to charge my EV.

Europe has mandated contactless payments. Even Tesla is following the rules on their new V4 dispensers. Tesla will need to fix up its old dispensers:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yflZN0dLT8s

Wtf do you need an app to use a car? It should just work.

I mean to manage the rental experience more than the car.