My first EV Experience
Discussion
I got to Nice airport last week to collect a cheap rental deal I’d found, yeh, that explained it as the woman on the desk said in her French accent “ah the electric”….original deal was £240 odd and this was £140.
So i’d ordered an electric hire car (an MG4), and previously have had no interest in sniffing around them here and was absolutely clueless about what to do. Firstly Europcar needed shooting as we wasted a good hour working out where to go/what to do/power for charging I could go on. Opening the boot to put the case in added to stress, multiple cables also to add taking boot space for cases! The decent thing to do would had been a guide of pamphlet...all they gave me was a poxy Shell account card?!? They also only left 80% charge in it!
The first deadly scilence was even more compounded by the usual worry about getting out of a rental carpark without hearing you scrape along something!
First time charging experience was the next bit of pain....we thought we’d find a Wiiz charger around Juan Les Pins and get some breakfast…that took 20 mins to work out it didn’t work, they had these side of road chargers with no screen on to know what was what….another drive to find another one…yeh not working….drove into antibes….two people in spots charging, I had naivety to think someone might appear in 20 mins….little did I know the chargers were 22KW? Finally got on one in Antibes near Port Vauban….10 hours to full charge….FFS this was absolutely horrendously stressful, no wonder the other blokes waiting had looked to had already smoked 20 galoises hanging out the car waiting.
Carrefour was the eventual answer, they had 22kW, 75kw and 150kw….not sure if I could use the 300KW I went on the bay for the 150kw….Wasn’t working….75kw out of order….22kW it was then while missus went shopping, I get in the bay….big cross by it…NOT Working!
Sat on the 22kw I thought I’d give the 300KW a go briefly….yes that eventually worked getting upto 50kw throughput on this MG4. Better thing about 300KW was they provided the charger.
Drive on the MG4 I thought was really good, quality of build on the car good, the display high quality all worked easily enough, plenty of space enough for us for the week. The car had only done 1000 so time would tell.
My heart sank a bit seeing they’d given us an MG, but it was really better than expected. For something bigger the MG HS looks like a good option and when looking for something on the market next I’m tempted to look at them as an option as they look good for the money and better quality than the Koreanmobiles.
Am I sold on EV? not sure I am just yet, these thing give me doubt
1. The fact the French can't even get charging stations industrialised yet worries me, add to that the issue with a whole nation going electric, this is going to end in disaster and will completely mean a change in travel habits.
2. I did 270 miles in this car, it cost me 50 quid in Charge, a full tank of petrol would be knocking on 70 odd quid I think so it aint that cheap is it?
3. I didn't realise charger types on the cars are all different.....why on earth is there no global standard? bonkers
4. Bits will still go just as wrong as an ICE, e.g. aside the batteries which we all know will likely deteriorate the recharging stuff has got to be on a hiding to nothing, I thought the idea of EV was sustainability.
5. Hire companies will suffer with electric becoming more popular, the MG manual said you should avoid fast charging! I'll be buggered if im using nothing else but fast charging.
Anyway some pictures...my favourite with the Alps in the backgound
So i’d ordered an electric hire car (an MG4), and previously have had no interest in sniffing around them here and was absolutely clueless about what to do. Firstly Europcar needed shooting as we wasted a good hour working out where to go/what to do/power for charging I could go on. Opening the boot to put the case in added to stress, multiple cables also to add taking boot space for cases! The decent thing to do would had been a guide of pamphlet...all they gave me was a poxy Shell account card?!? They also only left 80% charge in it!
The first deadly scilence was even more compounded by the usual worry about getting out of a rental carpark without hearing you scrape along something!
First time charging experience was the next bit of pain....we thought we’d find a Wiiz charger around Juan Les Pins and get some breakfast…that took 20 mins to work out it didn’t work, they had these side of road chargers with no screen on to know what was what….another drive to find another one…yeh not working….drove into antibes….two people in spots charging, I had naivety to think someone might appear in 20 mins….little did I know the chargers were 22KW? Finally got on one in Antibes near Port Vauban….10 hours to full charge….FFS this was absolutely horrendously stressful, no wonder the other blokes waiting had looked to had already smoked 20 galoises hanging out the car waiting.
Carrefour was the eventual answer, they had 22kW, 75kw and 150kw….not sure if I could use the 300KW I went on the bay for the 150kw….Wasn’t working….75kw out of order….22kW it was then while missus went shopping, I get in the bay….big cross by it…NOT Working!
Sat on the 22kw I thought I’d give the 300KW a go briefly….yes that eventually worked getting upto 50kw throughput on this MG4. Better thing about 300KW was they provided the charger.
Drive on the MG4 I thought was really good, quality of build on the car good, the display high quality all worked easily enough, plenty of space enough for us for the week. The car had only done 1000 so time would tell.
My heart sank a bit seeing they’d given us an MG, but it was really better than expected. For something bigger the MG HS looks like a good option and when looking for something on the market next I’m tempted to look at them as an option as they look good for the money and better quality than the Koreanmobiles.
Am I sold on EV? not sure I am just yet, these thing give me doubt
1. The fact the French can't even get charging stations industrialised yet worries me, add to that the issue with a whole nation going electric, this is going to end in disaster and will completely mean a change in travel habits.
2. I did 270 miles in this car, it cost me 50 quid in Charge, a full tank of petrol would be knocking on 70 odd quid I think so it aint that cheap is it?
3. I didn't realise charger types on the cars are all different.....why on earth is there no global standard? bonkers
4. Bits will still go just as wrong as an ICE, e.g. aside the batteries which we all know will likely deteriorate the recharging stuff has got to be on a hiding to nothing, I thought the idea of EV was sustainability.
5. Hire companies will suffer with electric becoming more popular, the MG manual said you should avoid fast charging! I'll be buggered if im using nothing else but fast charging.
Anyway some pictures...my favourite with the Alps in the backgound
Maybe it was just my region (Côte d'Azur).
Wiiiz chargers didn't seem to connect to the chargers when I setup the account. They were also in some very awkward places to park but thats just French way of life in big towns/cities (which I love btw).
Carrefour had enough to enable charging, the one I used was in Antibes, the closest was Frejus.
Time is valuable on holiday so I'll probably steer away from EV next time if it's cheaper.
Wiiiz chargers didn't seem to connect to the chargers when I setup the account. They were also in some very awkward places to park but thats just French way of life in big towns/cities (which I love btw).
Carrefour had enough to enable charging, the one I used was in Antibes, the closest was Frejus.
Time is valuable on holiday so I'll probably steer away from EV next time if it's cheaper.
Tomo1971 said:
I have to say as a recent EV driver (company car) that I am sold on EV's already. Just love it (VW ID4, base model)
But, im the sort to research stuff and watched hours of youtube videos and reviews to get an idea of public charging so when I ventured out to a public charger, I was prepared and all gone OK so far - I have RFID cards (CPS, electroverse, WeCharge) and a few apps - Tesla been the important one for charging and others to see where chargers are.
Having said all that, if 10 months ago, before I ventured into EV's I had an EV as a hire car, particularly in a foreign country I can see that it would be a struggle for many.
There is little standardisation of payment methods and misunderstanding of differencies between AC and DC chargers and their plugs and realistic charging speed. Add that to it not been obvious what the max speed any particular car will charge at and each having limitations based on temperature and exisiting charge % affecting the charge speed.
It would be quite daunting to someone hiring.
It was daunting, the biggest thing was working out how much time to not waste. But, im the sort to research stuff and watched hours of youtube videos and reviews to get an idea of public charging so when I ventured out to a public charger, I was prepared and all gone OK so far - I have RFID cards (CPS, electroverse, WeCharge) and a few apps - Tesla been the important one for charging and others to see where chargers are.
Having said all that, if 10 months ago, before I ventured into EV's I had an EV as a hire car, particularly in a foreign country I can see that it would be a struggle for many.
There is little standardisation of payment methods and misunderstanding of differencies between AC and DC chargers and their plugs and realistic charging speed. Add that to it not been obvious what the max speed any particular car will charge at and each having limitations based on temperature and exisiting charge % affecting the charge speed.
It would be quite daunting to someone hiring.
Paying was frigging irritating though, even though the Carrefour had a machine on the side it didn't work for me, and even locals were seeking help.
In hindsight having charging facility at the AirBnB (Or if we'd been in a hotel) would had been the way I'd work for charging, however im way ahead here in hoping this would be possible as AirBnB doesn't even have a filter to search for these.
raspy said:
I suspect there is a need for rental car companies (in general) to do much more to "inform" first time EV renters of what is involved and what happens when things don't go to plan.
I don't think there is any other answer here.Adding the wrong fuel won't ever happen again thats for sure so surely thats one less department!
I think in general terms car rental firms are still in 1995, I saw at Nice airport waiting for desk workers to process data I could had provided way in advance, yet the minute you want to find a vehicle nobody is around. Get the systems upgraded and doing something more productive!
I work with Enterprise and they are no different.
ATG said:
We hired an EV in France last year and got precisely zero useful information from the hire car company. But we've got an EV in the UK, so we know the ropes. If we hadn't had that prior knowledge, it would have been a nightmare. Nothing to do with the car; everything to do with pretty crap customer service.
When you're new to EVs your first experience of public chargers is highly likely to be one of stress and frustration because although the cabling is indeed standardised, the logins, phone apps and payment methods aren't, and the quality of the "user experience" of all the software involved is frequently pants. It's very much like trying to pay for parking with your phone. The first time is a massive pain in the arse, but once you've set up the app on your phone and you know how to navigate the app, you can do it in a few seconds without thinking about it.
Experience of most people is that you quickly get into the rhythm of using an EV and they just work. For example, there are a couple of people in my mountaineering club who've got EVs through work (i.e. primarily for financial reasons) and use them without any issue to tour round the North West of Scotland, the Pyrenees and the Alps.
Yes apps/payment pretty dire, although Carrefour was good as it told me charge usage and historic costs of charge.When you're new to EVs your first experience of public chargers is highly likely to be one of stress and frustration because although the cabling is indeed standardised, the logins, phone apps and payment methods aren't, and the quality of the "user experience" of all the software involved is frequently pants. It's very much like trying to pay for parking with your phone. The first time is a massive pain in the arse, but once you've set up the app on your phone and you know how to navigate the app, you can do it in a few seconds without thinking about it.
Experience of most people is that you quickly get into the rhythm of using an EV and they just work. For example, there are a couple of people in my mountaineering club who've got EVs through work (i.e. primarily for financial reasons) and use them without any issue to tour round the North West of Scotland, the Pyrenees and the Alps.
AlexIT said:
I would not really get an EV as a rental car to be totally fair, although we're totally EV at home. If you're not acquainted with the car or with the place you're moving to it could get tricky. OTOH I don't have any problem in travelling to unknown places with my car and I would not have issues in renting an EV in a place I know well.
I have been to the Cote d'Azur this past winter and I must say that I couldn't feel that charging was an issue. The original plan was to charge on the way back at Tesla Supercharger in Nice, but I found that the Wiiz chargers in Juan les Pins were far more convenient.
They are slow chargers (11 kW on the Model3), but they charge 3 € from 22:00 to 7:00, so plugged the car with 30% battery and in the morning I had a full car paying peanuts: ~40 kWh at 3 € equal to 0.075 € / kWh... good for 200 ish motorway miles.
France has in my experience by far the best charging network (which is to be seen also in the growth of their EV sales).
Well I was in Juan Les Pin and it wasn't so great, locals were also reporting issues.I have been to the Cote d'Azur this past winter and I must say that I couldn't feel that charging was an issue. The original plan was to charge on the way back at Tesla Supercharger in Nice, but I found that the Wiiz chargers in Juan les Pins were far more convenient.
They are slow chargers (11 kW on the Model3), but they charge 3 € from 22:00 to 7:00, so plugged the car with 30% battery and in the morning I had a full car paying peanuts: ~40 kWh at 3 € equal to 0.075 € / kWh... good for 200 ish motorway miles.
France has in my experience by far the best charging network (which is to be seen also in the growth of their EV sales).
Maybe it was people using them overnight too much
h0b0 said:
I have a thread running in the travel section of pistonheads talking about rental car equivalents. I thought my latest experience is relevant here.
Rented a BMW X5 and got confirmation of a guaranteed Tesla model Y. That triggered the thread because I didn’t think they are equivalent and I had to drive 250 miles to my destination which is 1 hour drive away from the nearest super charger.
When I got on the shuttle to the Hertz counter I over heard an elderly couple talking. The husband was near tears. He just kept saying how he didn’t know how he could have booked an electric vehicle. The wife was reassuring him saying they would manage. I politely apologized for overhearing their conversation and let them know it was unlikely his mistake. He had probably been bait and switched like I had. That’s when everyone on the shuttle revealed they had all booked petrol cars and received confirmation of EV.
Once we got to the Hertz building it was chaos. 30 groups all complaining that they had been bait and switched. Lots of angry people.
When it was my turn the guy at the desk immediately went into defensive mode. I’m sure he was getting complaints all day long and was just ready for the next customer to complain. I just told him I wanted the car I booked or equivalent. The group was something like prestige elite SUV. Eventually, I said I would deal with the Tesla. That’s when he told me they only had model 3s. “Nope”. Was my response. I will take the XC90 I can see. That’s £85/day extra. The manager gave me an XC60 hybrid in the end.
So, that means my first EV was a total failure as the worst use case for EV is rental. Everyone in the building also had a terrible experience. As I left I saw they had Taycans. If they didn’t have the car in category they should give the Taycan. I would have taken that and dealt with the inconvenience as I’m looking at buying one.
Oh, hertz reported $400M loss in the last quarter due to EVs. They are now forcing them on to people using underhand practices.
Have hire car companies ever made a profit ?Rented a BMW X5 and got confirmation of a guaranteed Tesla model Y. That triggered the thread because I didn’t think they are equivalent and I had to drive 250 miles to my destination which is 1 hour drive away from the nearest super charger.
When I got on the shuttle to the Hertz counter I over heard an elderly couple talking. The husband was near tears. He just kept saying how he didn’t know how he could have booked an electric vehicle. The wife was reassuring him saying they would manage. I politely apologized for overhearing their conversation and let them know it was unlikely his mistake. He had probably been bait and switched like I had. That’s when everyone on the shuttle revealed they had all booked petrol cars and received confirmation of EV.
Once we got to the Hertz building it was chaos. 30 groups all complaining that they had been bait and switched. Lots of angry people.
When it was my turn the guy at the desk immediately went into defensive mode. I’m sure he was getting complaints all day long and was just ready for the next customer to complain. I just told him I wanted the car I booked or equivalent. The group was something like prestige elite SUV. Eventually, I said I would deal with the Tesla. That’s when he told me they only had model 3s. “Nope”. Was my response. I will take the XC90 I can see. That’s £85/day extra. The manager gave me an XC60 hybrid in the end.
So, that means my first EV was a total failure as the worst use case for EV is rental. Everyone in the building also had a terrible experience. As I left I saw they had Taycans. If they didn’t have the car in category they should give the Taycan. I would have taken that and dealt with the inconvenience as I’m looking at buying one.
Oh, hertz reported $400M loss in the last quarter due to EVs. They are now forcing them on to people using underhand practices.
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