Renting EVs: Charging Fees Shocking

By Christopher Elliott

You’d think the cost of renting an electric vehicle would be falling, with Tesla slashing the price of its cars by up to 20% last week. Not exactly.

The EV premium is alive and well. Electric car rentals still cost roughly 20% more than gas-powered vehicles, according to a random sampling of prices I conducted. But there’s also a hidden cost of renting an EV that has shocked some travelers. It includes extras for charging the car or spending too much time at a charging station.

The extras add up, making an EV rental a luxury for many travelers. In fact, smart drivers are turning down the opportunity to rent an electric vehicle.

What are Car Rental Fees for EVs?

Joshua Folb did a double-take when Budget Car Rental recently sent him its updated terms. Buried deep in the fine print was a requirement that EVs have to be returned more than 70% charged or face a $35 fee. If it’s less than 10%, it’s $70.

“I wonder what the other car rental companies are doing,” says Folb, who works for a nonprofit organization in Arlington, Va.

Well, wonder no more. Avis, which owns Budget, has an identical policy. Hertz has a complicated set of EV fees that include charging, controversial “idle” fees and the costs of any damaged charging cable. Enterprise doesn’t have any EV charging fees, and Sixt actually rewards you for recharging your car with a voucher.

“When renting an EV, renters need to be aware of any additional charging fees that may be required post-rental,” explains Erin Kemp, a consumer advocate for the car site Bumper.

Kemp has seen charging fees ranging from $15 to $50 or more, depending on the rental company and the battery. He says car rental customers should think of it as a supercharged refueling fee. Car rental companies charge about three times as much as the market rate to top off an EV with a low battery.

Charging more for an EV and adding hidden fees is a bizarre business practice, considering that car rental companies are trying to get more people to rent an EV.

Drivers are Revolted

Callum Russell rented a Nissan Ariya on a recent visit to California. The daily rate of $50 was reasonable -- but that was before the fees.

The company added fees of $35 for EV charging and $20 for an additional driver, and a representative also told him that if he didn’t return the EV clean, he’d have to pay another fee. “The charging fee was much more than if I had used a public charging port,” says Russell, who runs a site about EV charging.

Daniel Carr had a similar experience when he priced cars for a one-week rental.

“The car options that were electric were overpriced,” says Carr, who publishes an automotive blog. “I think they are taking advantage of the fact that it’s a new technology, and know that if you want to pick an EV over a gas-powered car, they can take advantage of your moral preference for using an EV.”

He went with a gas-powered car.

Richard Wong, a government worker from Washington, D.C., tried to rent an EV in San Francisco during the holiday. The price tag, after all the surcharges, came to more than $100 per day. He’s outraged.

“I don’t know how they can justify the greater expense if we’re paying for the electricity and they’re probably receiving government incentives like tax breaks or outright subsidies for buying electric vehicles,” he says.

Wong also went with a conventional vehicle.

How to Avoid High Fees

Scrap your assumptions about EVs before you rent one, say experts.

You know, that they’re affordable, that there are no extra fees, and that all of the fees are clearly disclosed. The exact opposite is often true.

“Be sure to ask,” says Andrew Krulewitz, CEO of Zevvy, the electric vehicle leasing company.

What’s the Charging Policy?

Every rental company seems to have a different policy on charging.

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