clifford
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Last month I picked up a Hertz car at the Hertz LHR depot, having booked it online several weeks prior. I had a confirmed reservation for a compact car with petrol engine, for my 600-mile round-trip to the North of England, to see some relatives. As I was travelling alone, that's all I needed.
However, when picking up the car I was told by the agent that there were no petrol powered vehicles available and that I had no alternative but to take an EV (at the same price). I told the agent that this wouldn't be suitable, due to range issues, but in the end I had no other practical choice if I wanted to continue my journey as planned. The vehicle I was given was actually quite nice, a PoleStar 2, with a decent claimed range of 280 miles (it might just get me to my destination, but then what?).
Anyway, when well into my journey, the "fuel" gauge started to suggest that I'd better find a charging station fairly soon, so I pulled over and asked Dr Google what charging stations were nearby (the UK is not over supplied with them). I found 2 or 3 that seemed suitable, so went to the nearest one (in a pub card park). It was available and looked fine, but it refused to accept any of my Aussie credit cards. It stated that I could use a particular app, which I tried to download, but couldn't because it was only available to UK-issued phones.
So try the next, which happened to be a Shell station, which could be used with the electronic token provided by Hertz. This was also available, and after a bit of stuffing around to get the token to work, the process of replenishing the battery commenced, albeit at a fairly slow pace due to the moderate-capacity 55KW charger (the highest that Shell UK provides, apparently). It took about an hour to get the battery close to full and then I was on my way again. Unfortunately I was a couple of hours late because of all the messing around, so I could not see all of the relatives I had arranged to meet.
On the return journey to London I was faced with the same range issues and had to stop to recharge a couple of times, as Hertz requires that the vehicle be returned with at least 25% charge or there is a penalty to be paid.
So overall, several hours of my trip were wasted on charging the vehicle which would not have happened if the car was petrol powered (5 minutes to refuel max). To add insult to injury, Hertz billed me for GBP 112 for the electricity I had used via their Shell token (I had no alternative). So the cost of fuel ended up being much more expensive that it would've been with a petrol car (Hertz didn't need to charge a higher rate for the vehicle!). What a rip off and thoroughly annoying experience. Never again Hertz!
However, when picking up the car I was told by the agent that there were no petrol powered vehicles available and that I had no alternative but to take an EV (at the same price). I told the agent that this wouldn't be suitable, due to range issues, but in the end I had no other practical choice if I wanted to continue my journey as planned. The vehicle I was given was actually quite nice, a PoleStar 2, with a decent claimed range of 280 miles (it might just get me to my destination, but then what?).
Anyway, when well into my journey, the "fuel" gauge started to suggest that I'd better find a charging station fairly soon, so I pulled over and asked Dr Google what charging stations were nearby (the UK is not over supplied with them). I found 2 or 3 that seemed suitable, so went to the nearest one (in a pub card park). It was available and looked fine, but it refused to accept any of my Aussie credit cards. It stated that I could use a particular app, which I tried to download, but couldn't because it was only available to UK-issued phones.
So try the next, which happened to be a Shell station, which could be used with the electronic token provided by Hertz. This was also available, and after a bit of stuffing around to get the token to work, the process of replenishing the battery commenced, albeit at a fairly slow pace due to the moderate-capacity 55KW charger (the highest that Shell UK provides, apparently). It took about an hour to get the battery close to full and then I was on my way again. Unfortunately I was a couple of hours late because of all the messing around, so I could not see all of the relatives I had arranged to meet.
On the return journey to London I was faced with the same range issues and had to stop to recharge a couple of times, as Hertz requires that the vehicle be returned with at least 25% charge or there is a penalty to be paid.
So overall, several hours of my trip were wasted on charging the vehicle which would not have happened if the car was petrol powered (5 minutes to refuel max). To add insult to injury, Hertz billed me for GBP 112 for the electricity I had used via their Shell token (I had no alternative). So the cost of fuel ended up being much more expensive that it would've been with a petrol car (Hertz didn't need to charge a higher rate for the vehicle!). What a rip off and thoroughly annoying experience. Never again Hertz!
