Payne: Road trippin’ in a Hertz Rent-a-Tesla

Posted by Talbot Payne on November 8, 2022

The Northern Neck, Virginia — Car rentals demand a lot of an automobile. We customers are jet-lagged and likely in a rush. We have an armful of luggage that needs to be stowed. We have no idea how to get to our destination, but need to get there on time no matter the distance. In short, the car must be as loyal a travel companion as a Sherpa up the face of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

So when Hertz announced late last year an order of 100,000 Tesla Model 3s on its way to making its fleet 20% electric, I was eager to put an EV rental through the paces. Sure, EVs boost Hertz’s image (it has also inked deals with GM and Polestar) coming out of COVID-induced bankruptcy, reduce fleet maintenance costs by 50%, and provide a ready destination for automaker EV production.

But are EVs ready for prime time as rental mules?

With a week’s notice that I would be traveling to remote, historic Stratford, Virginia, to meet my wife on a business trip, I rented a Model 3 from Reagan National Airport outside the nation’s capital.

Rentals aren’t cheap these days and my premium-class Model 3 was $161 a day, about $30 more than a comparably-sized Hyundai Elantra mainstream compact, but well below, say, a luxury gas-powered Cadillac XT5 SUV at $330. The Model 3’s twin Model Y SUV? About $100 a day more. Total Tesla bill after taxes and airport fees: $611 for three days.

Detroit News auto critic Henry Payne took a Hertz Tesla Model 3 on a 190-mile road trip from Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., to the rural Northern Neck of Virginia.

Upon arrival in D.C. — landing into Reagan National from the north for a spectacular view of the Lincoln and Washington monuments — I accessed Hertz’s app so I could bypass the counter and go directly to the car. But the app wasn’t working, which was OK because I had questions for the agent.

Namely, would I need to return the Tesla fully fueled — er, fully charged?

Nope. I would just have to return it with at least 10% of charge. Otherwise, the cost of any Supercharger stops (at 31 cents per kWh, about double what Detroiters pay for home charging) was on Hertz.

Easy peasy. Meanwhile, my poor wife — renting separately for her longer stay in Virginia — waited for an hour in the Dollar Rental line for her Hyundai.

The Hertz Tesla Model 3 has plenty of cargo space in the boot - and the frunk - for a weekend road trip.

I stowed my bags in the trunk (with “frunk” room to spare) and awoke the sedan via a two-step process: 1) tap the B-pillar with a Tesla card to open the door, 2) once seated with foot on brake, tap the card on the console. I’ve owned a Model 3 for four years — and driven every other Tesla model — but for the Tesla uninitiated, there is a learning curve to adapt to the operating system. This is not your average vehicle with console gear shifter, rotary climate knobs and steering wheel-mounted cruise controls. Jump into a Hertz Elantra rental (or premium Cadillac or Infiniti) and it’ll be familiar in minutes.

With Tesla, everything is operated through the screen — or via shortcuts using twin rotary balls on the steering wheel. Even for the initiated, Model 3 requires some set-up. The process took me back to my first Tesla in 2018 and the excitement of learning a new system. But for the harried traveler, well, patience is required.

For the uninitiated, setting up, say, the Hertz Tesla Model 3 mirrors can be a new experience.

After synching my phone, I worked my way down Tesla’s menu of screen settings:Set mirrorsSet auto windshield wipersSet windows to close automatically on lock when you walk awaySet auto high beamsSet destination via voice activation (“Navigate to Stratford, Virginia”)Set Autopilot to Autosteer.

That’s right, Hertz features Tesla’s ambitious Autopilot self-driving system.

With instant torque from the rear-wheel-drive Tesla’s electric motor, I exited the airport and merged onto George Washington Parkway south with authority. Zot! Then I pulled down twice on the column shifter and the EV took over the driving, asking only that I keep a hand on the wheel for reassurance that I hadn’t nodded off.

Significantly, the rental was not equipped with Navigate on Autopilot — that is, no auto lane changes or auto exits when you reach your exit. Otherwise, my rental self-drove anywhere — on secondary roads or divided highways.

On Metro D.C.’s crowded roads, Autopilot was a welcome driving assistant as I navigated stop ‘n’ go traffic while checking on messages/email down Indian Head Highway.

My 190-mile round trip to Stratford Hall, home of Virginia’s famed Lee family (78 miles each way plus side trips), shouldn’t have required a charging station visit given the Model 3’s estimated 283 miles of range. But that doesn’t mean charging isn’t always at the back of your mind.

After all, I only got 68% of battery range for my trip — meaning my expected 283 miles of range was actually just 192. I was keen to know where the closest Tesla Superchargers were should I need a quick charge.

Reassuringly, there were two Superchargers in the rural Northern Neck (the closest just 15 miles from Stratford). This is Tesla’s secret sauce — a reliable, robust network. By contrast, the nation’s other large fast-charger networks — Electrify America and EV Go — had nothing in the Northern Neck, with their closest charger 40 miles away.

The Hertz Tesla Model 3 is an entertaining ride on Virginia country roads with instant torque and low center of gravity.

I used the Model 3 as a proper rental vehicle (not parking it for fear of range anxiety) over the weekend: running errands, visiting GW’s nearby birthplace, even letting a fellow Stratford Hall visitor take it for a test drive. He was impressed — thrilled by the car’s instant acceleration and self-driving capability on twisty backroads.

On my way back to the airport I detoured to a Northern Neck Supercharger station — located at a Sheetz gas station — for a 10-minute, peace-of-mind top-up gaining 75 miles of charge. A gas-powered car will take on 400 miles of range in three minutes — an indication of how far EVs have to go as road-trip mules.

The rented Tesla gets an electron top-off.

The Tesla cost more to fuel than my wife’s gas-fired Hyundai, too. At 31 cents per kWh at the Supercharger, my EV was billed $20. The Hyundai’s fuel bill at $3.49 cent regular gas over a comparable 190 miles: about $18.

Tesla’s navi — Autopilot self-driving me through dense Sunday night traffic — led me back to Reagan National’s Hertz lot with time to spare before my flight. An attendant greeted me and I double-checked on the refueling cost.

“I charged at 31 cents per kWh at a Supercharger. Does that go on my bill?” I asked.

“No, you’re all set,” he smiled.

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne

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