Should you rent an EV for your next business trip?

EVs are everywhere: Teslas, Chevy Bolts, Hyundai Ioniqs, Kia Niros, even Ford F150s and Mustangs. You might even drive one yourself, either your own car or a rental, increasingly available from Hertz, Avis and Enterprise. (Although Hertz is reducing their fleet.)

EVs are fun and modern, and emit less CO2 while driving – so should you grab an EV to reduce the environmental impact of your next business trip?

It depends.

It depends because – and you know this if you regularly drive an EV – fueling an EV is very different from fueling a gas-powered car.

In simple terms: you can put 200+ miles of range in a gas-powered car in two minutes, just pump several gallons of gas into the tank. Putting 200+ miles of range in an EV takes at least 30 minutes on the fastest chargers, and can take several hours (or days) on the slowest chargers.

Thus where and how you’re driving makes a huge difference. Short trips where charging is easily available are good for an EV, longer distances are tougher.

Let’s dig into trips where EVs do and may not make sense.

Renting an EV for business makes sense when:

• You’re driving shorter distances, under 100 miles a day, like getting around a metro area.
• You’re traveling somewhere where chargers are available and have time to charge, for example staying overnight at a hotel with chargers or parking at a charger for the day. (Cities are best, some highway corridors have good charging.)
• You’re up for adventure and you know what you’re doing!

Renting an EV for business may not make sense if you’re:

• Driving longer distances, like above 100 miles oneway. You may have to charge on the road, which means a 20+ minute stop at a high speed charger (time for lunch, if you’ve planned right).
• Traveling somewhere where chargers aren’t available and don't have blocks of time to leave the car charging.
• You’re traveling somewhere cold – EVs don’t like cold, particularly below freezing (32 F or 0 C).
• You're short on time when the trip is ending, won't have time to charge the car before returning it.*
• You’re a nervous traveler. “Range anxiety” is real: comparing your remaining trip distance to the estimated range on the car can be nerve wracking. 

*Officially rental EVs are supposed to be returned with a certain charge, at least 75%. Enforcement of this requirement is uneven, in our experience.

So, you’re ready to rent an EV for your next business trip? Here are some extra tips:

• Don’t drive too fast: EVs get less range when you drive fast. (We know that you, of course, are a safe and responsible driver.)
• Switch your navigation app (Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze) to EV driving mode so you can quickly find chargers.
• Look for fast chargers (your navigation/maps app can help), a 300 kW charger is a lot faster than a 7 kW charger! Also note that some cars charge fast (Teslas, 250 kW max), some are much slower (Chevy Bolts at 55 kW max).

If you’re ready to go, look for the “Electric” badge on car rentals in AmTrav or filter for Electric Fuel Type. Safe travels!