There are many reasons why you might rent an electric car. Maybe it’s an opportunity to see what living with an EV is like before you splash the cash. Or perhaps you already own an electric car and you don’t want a petrol or diesel vehicle while on holiday or away on business. It could even be that the rental company is unable to offer anything else.
Regardless of your reasons, renting an EV is mostly like hiring a car with a conventional engine. However, there are a few notable differences. Read on to discover more about renting an EV in the UK.
Where can I rent an electric car?
All of the major car hire companies offer EV rental services, although it could be worth checking out one of the many specialist firms. Names to consider include EV Hire, Volt-Age, Green Motion, EVision, EV Go and Ufodrive.
Don’t rely on solely your favourite search engine to identify the best and most appropriate EV rental company. The big companies have bigger advertising budgets and tend to appear on the first page of Google.
Check EV availability
Unless you’re dealing with a specialist electric car hire company, you might find that the EV you want is unavailable. Electric car stocks tend to be smaller than those of petrol and diesel models, while a growing awareness of electric cars means that demand is higher than ever. You should think ahead, especially if you’re booking at busy times of the year. These include during the school holidays or over a bank holiday weekend.
Will the EV have a fully charged battery?
There’s no guarantee that your EV will come with a fully charged battery, although most rental companies say they aim for an 80 percent charge. Europcar guarantees at least 50 percent, while Volt-Age says the car will be fully charged if collected or 75 percent full if delivered to your house.
Anyone familiar with rentals will know that most companies expect the car to be returned with a full tank of fuel. That’s fine because it takes just a couple of minutes to fill a tank and most drop-off locations are situated close to a petrol station. Things are a little different when it comes to EVs, however.
For a start, a lot of companies expect an EV to be returned with the same level of charge as when it was collected. Failure to do so will result in an additional charge. Hertz offers what it calls a Charge Purchase Option, which allows you to return the car with a minimum 10 percent charge with a fee automatically applied. Return it with the same charge and you’ll pay nothing.
To avoid an excess charge, you could consider Europcar, which requires a minimum charge of 20 percent, but says that it’s good practice to return a rental EV with a reasonable charge. In all cases, check the small print before signing the rental agreement.
It’s worth noting that some rental outlets don’t have EV chargers on-site. Thus if the previous customer returned the car with minimal charge, that’s what you’ll be left with. This is why you should familiarise yourself with the local charging network.
Read the small print
You should always check the terms and conditions before grabbing the car keys. Check mileage limits, insurance details and additional fees before signing. Does the rental company provide breakdown cover or is this something you need to arrange for yourself?
Does the company offer an orientation service?
If you’re new to EVs, choosing a company that offers an orientation service would be helpful. You’ll need to know how to access the car, start it and move away, along with the ins and outs of one-pedal driving and regenerative braking. The cars might look familiar, but the driving experience is very different.
Find out where you need to look for the range estimation, because you don’t want the battery to go flat. Knowing how to charge the car is another vitally important consideration, regardless of whether you fill up at home or via the public charging network.
How to charge a rental EV
Most companies supply a Type 2 charging cable for using the public charging network, along with a second cable for charging via a domestic socket. You’ll almost certainly need to use one of them before returning the car, so ask for advice or search online for infomation on how to charge the car you are renting.
Don’t simply jump in the EV and expect it to know where to find the nearest charging station or where you can recharge the battery on route. Although the car’s sat-nav is likely to have a route planner and map of charging stations, you’ll also need to check which smartphone apps you require for the many charging operators. Create an account for each respective provider before you arrive at the charging point. In some cases, the rental price will include access to a particular charging operator, so check the details when you make a booking.
Regardless of what’s included, you should download the Zapmap app. This includes details of tens of thousands of charge points, including live status, payment options and price. Make sure you plan for charging time, which could take anything from 20 minutes to several hours. Factor in the need to recharge the battery before returning the car to the rental company.
Aside from all of the above, the usual rental advice applies to hiring an EV. Give the car a once-over to check for damage before leaving the rental office, read the terms and conditions of the agreement, and return the car before the deadline. More research and knowledge is required prior to renting an EV, but it should be straightforward after that.
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