- My brother and sister rented a Tesla and had to stop six times a day to charge it.
- Xaviar Stevenson and his sister Alice drove from Orlando, Florida to Wichita, Kansas.
- They said other customers renting Tesla vehicles had called Hertz with similar charging issues.
Xaviar and Alice Steavenson wanted to know what it was like to drive a Tesla, so they rented one from Hertz for a road trip from Orlando, Florida to Wichita, Kansas.
We knew the electric car would need charging along the way, but what the brothers didn’t anticipate was how often it would need charging.
They noticed that the car took longer to charge after the weather turned very cold in late December.
But it’s reached a point where “batteries drain faster than they charge,” Xavier told Insider.
When they left, they were able to drive the Tesla for at least two and a half hours before having to charge it. “Eventually, from 1 hour he had to stop every hour and a half to charge for an hour, then he for an hour and a half, then he for two hours,” he said.
A Tesla borrowed from a supercharger.
Alice Stevenson/Badax.life
“So it went from $25 to $30 to recharge over lost time. In just one day, we stopped six times to recharge for that cost,” Xaviar said. says.
Hertz said on its website that renting a Tesla is “always cheaper than gasoline,” but he said the claim was far from the truth.
The first time the brother called Hertz, Xaviar said an agent told him, “I only had Tesla’s phone today – I don’t know why they’re having problems.”
A Hertz spokesperson told Insider: “We have not seen a significant increase in customer inquiries about rental EV batteries. However, battery ranges vary by car manufacturer and can be affected by multiple factors such as weather and driving conditions.” .”
The Stevensons weren’t the only ones who experienced charging problems with their Tesla in extremely cold weather. Her 44-year-old radio host from Lynchburg, eastern Virginia, said the temperature was 19 degrees (minus 7 degrees) when she was stranded just before Christmas because her Model S wouldn’t charge, he told Insider. told to
Xaviar said Hertz told him to go to the nearest branch to get a new car. “But they don’t have a Tesla there, or even an equivalent, so I’m back in the Nissan Rogue Sport. At least it’s economical.”
Tesla did not respond to an insider’s request for comment.