Every time you rent a car, the rental company’s representative will tell you what you can do and what you can’t do with their vehicle. When it comes to EVs, some special attention will be paid to charging and range.
Case in point: YouTuber Out of Spec Dave rented a Tesla Model Y from Hertz, and the company's rep told him that the car would stop working when the battery state of charge (SoC) reaches 9 percent. He was so intrigued by this statement that he wanted to put it to the test.
"While I am sure this person was just trying to ensure I don't run out of juice by telling me to be conservative, I had to test the information provided to me to see if in fact Tesla had done some kind of software mod with Hertz to limit the usable energy in the pack," wrote the creator in the video's description.
Gallery: 2021 Tesla Model Y
The test was a simple one – a short road trip that began with the car’s battery at 84%, to find out whether or not the car would stop when the SoC reached 9%. And, well, it didn’t stop.
Out of Spec Dave drove the Model Y until it got to 5%, parked it during the night, and the next day he set off for a Supercharger that was nearby, with just 2% left in the battery, reaching the fast charger with 1% SoC and limited performance.
It seems that, in the end, the Hertz rep was just trying to be conservative, considering that there are all sorts of people who rent cars. Some have zero experience with EVs and getting stranded on the side of the road because they’re not accustomed to the electric way of life isn’t a very good memory.
Other interesting takeaways from the video are that Hertz offers a physical keycard if you rent a Tesla, and not access via the Tesla app, which would help monitor Dog Mode (which is active and available, as demonstrated by the YouTuber with his dog).
We’ve contacted Hertz for an official comment on this, and we’ll update this article when we get a reply.
Until then, let us know in the comments below about your EV rental experiences. Have you been through the same?
