Discussion: Hertz orders 100,000 Model 3's

[danarcha]

And some of us who owned 5-year-old Teslas didn't even do that much maintenance. As in none. I guess if you never took a bath you'd need to change the air filter more often, but I dunno. I seldom run AC in my car, rarely run heat (that's California for ya...) and never ever think about changing the air filter. And using regen pretty much alla time, why would you need to check the brake fluid?? I never did. Drive it like you own it!

Brake fluid degrades with time by absorbing water. This degradation is unrelated to whether you are using the brakes or not. Tesla recommends checking the brake fluid every two years. All you have to is get some test strips and dip them in the brake fluid reservoir under the frunk. You probably won't have to replace it every two years, but if you want your brakes to be functional in an emergency, you would be wise to not skip this check.

 

[Knightshade]

And some of us who owned 5-year-old Teslas didn't even do that much maintenance. As in none. I guess if you never took a bath you'd need to change the air filter more often, but I dunno. I seldom run AC in my car, rarely run heat (that's California for ya...) and never ever think about changing the air filter. And using regen pretty much alla time, why would you need to check the brake fluid?? I never did. Drive it like you own it!

Brake fluid absorbs moisture from the air, regardless of how much you use the brakes.

As it does so its boiling point gets progressively lower-- depending on the vehicle and the general conditions it lives in (high vs low local humidity for example) this can mean your fluid gets dangerous for emergencies within as little as 2-3 years, or maybe as long as 5-7 years.

Thus why Tesla suggests you test it (rather than by default change it) every 2 years to be safe.

Your funeral though.


Likewise how much one uses the AC or heat varies greatly by weather and humidity. You'd never get away with "rarely" running it here, nor in most of the country- see the tons of threads about stinky AC for those who don't change their filters regularly elsewhere.

The $50 for a filter change every 2 years seems a lot cheaper than SoCal real estate pricing

 

[aparan]

With Hertz order for 10k Tesla's next year combined with continuing demand for Model Y's who think the resale prices for Model Y will remain high next year too? ( Hertz order I think are mainly Model 3's but I assume should be Model Y's too)

Have seen some crazy sale prices for used Model 3's lately.

 

[Bigriver]

If the federal tax credit gets passed, taking $8000 off the price of most new model 3’s and Y’s, I expect used prices to come down as people compare the price of a new minus tax credit to the price of used. While the current legislation being considered also has a small tax credit for used vehicles, I believe it is only $2k with a price cap of $25k, so not relevant to Tesla used market.

 

[CapeOne]

Don't rental cars have branded titles

Specifics regarding branded titles can vary by state but they are mainly for cars that were totaled in floods or accidents, or were bought back by the manufacturer under the lemon law. A flood or totaled car may have a "salvage" title. A flood or totaled car that has been repaired may have a "reconstructed" or "rebuilt" title.

Rental cars, however, are typically identified in vehicle history reports like Carfax as part of ownership history information.

 

[roblab]

Brake fluid degrades with time by absorbing water. This degradation is unrelated to whether you are using the brakes or not. Tesla recommends checking the brake fluid every two years. All you have to is get some test strips and dip them in the brake fluid reservoir under the frunk. You probably won't have to replace it every two years, but if you want your brakes to be functional in an emergency, you would be wise to not skip this check.

Living in California where we get a few inches of rain every year, I am not worried that my brake fluid might somehow adsorb water. I've lived here all my life, and driven several cars many, many years without ever, ever, ever checking the brake fluid for moisture... and never been sorry. And my brakes have always been functional. So I'd guess I'm going to go on the weight of my experience over someone's recommendation who lives in Indiana where it rains near four feet per year.

I understand where you're coming from, but being intelligent and rational, if not wise, I'm not going to start dipping test strips into my brake fluid every two years, nor even every five, because it's unnecessary where I live.

 

[BooMan]

Yes in the other 49 states. Or most of em anyway.

There's almost no major highway in the US where you don't pass a supercharger in 100 miles or less. So 250 miles is PLENTY of range for nearly everyone.

You can find exceptions of course, but they're not nearly as common as you suggest and tend to be remote places I wouldn't be renting a sport sedan for anyway.


Bear in mind too, 100k cars is only a minority of their fleet.

it's not like they don't KNOW how many miles renters in each of their locations typically drives- and will almost certainly position these cars accordingly.





This is outright false.

From the investor call last week:







Ok. But there's one in Bangor 45 miles away, not hundreds of miles away....or Augusta ~100 miles to the west, or Baileyville ~100 miles to the northeast.

Where are you going exactly in Maine where 250 miles of range isn't enough?




The entire state is 48 miles north to south. 30-something east to west. With a supercharger roughly in the middle of it and plenty of em in neighboring states.





These will be LFP SRs. They can charge to 100% just fine.

Frankly SC/L3 charging is nowhere near where it needs to be for true seamless EV experience; which is defined by having the same flexibility as ICE vehicle with no compromises. I drive the MI to west TN route several times a year (~800mi) and while I was able to do it in my M3P there was no margin if I had to, say take an unplanned detour or if we hit wind/inclement weather (or we were just speeding) and now I don’t have 150mi range left to make it to the next SC. Look I am all for EVs BUT I’m also honest and I would not recommend as n EV for everyone. My young 30 year old cousin who is in the tech industry? Sure. My 70 year old mom and dad (who still make that same 800 mi drive to see me)? No way. Until L3 is almost as ubiquitous as gas stations it’s not a good fit for many. That’s why the focus on car range is misguided IMO and we need to be focused 100% on Infrastrutre.

All just MO

 

[tm1v2]

Frankly SC/L3 charging is nowhere near where it needs to be for true seamless EV experience; which is defined by having the same flexibility as ICE vehicle with no compromises. I drive the MI to west TN route several times a year (~800mi) and while I was able to do it in my M3P there was no margin if I had to, say take an unplanned detour or if we hit wind/inclement weather (or we were just speeding) and now I don’t have 150mi range left to make it to the next SC. Look I am all for EVs BUT I’m also honest and I would not recommend as n EV for everyone. My young 30 year old cousin who is in the tech industry? Sure. My 70 year old mom and dad (who still make that same 800 mi drive to see me)? No way. Until L3 is almost as ubiquitous as gas stations it’s not a good fit for many. That’s why the focus on car range is misguided IMO and we need to be focused 100% on Infrastrutre.

All just MO

The ICE experience is too compromised for daily driving. Until we have the infrastructure to pump gasoline or diesel at home, I can't recommend that anyone put up with the hassle and detours of keeping an ICE car fueled.



If you're staying at a hotel with L2 charging, an EV rental could well be more convenient than ICE. I'm sure L2 chargers will continue becoming more and more common at hotels, and in larger numbers. Hertz may be a bit ahead of the curve here, but it's good they're pushing things forward, and this could put pressure on hotels, airbnb hosts, etc to continue adding more L2 charging.

ICE rentals aren't going away anytime soon. Having the option to rent an EV through a big rental company like Hertz, when it makes sense for your trip, is great.

 

[Knightshade]

The ICE experience is too compromised for daily driving. Until we have the infrastructure to pump gasoline or diesel at home, I can't recommend that anyone put up with the hassle and detours of keeping an ICE car fueled.

Yup.

The time wasted throughout the year at gas stations in ICE cars is much higher than the "time wasted" on the rare long roadtrip charging an EV.


Certainly you'll find weird exceptions to the average who actually drive 800 miles a day, often, but that's what those are- rare fringe exceptions.

The average american (depending if you use mean or median) only drives 10-30 miles a day before Covid. Less now obviously.

The average rental customer from any data I can find sure drives a TON less than 800 a day too. (75-100ish seems to be a # I see reasonable often when trying to get an answer on it- even in dead of winter an SR+ can do that no issue)

ICE rentals aren't going away anytime soon. Having the option to rent an EV through a big rental company like Hertz, when it makes sense for your trip, is great.

Yup.... and really the thing holding it back more than it otherwise would is supply and variety... sometimes a rental needs to be a big SUV, and there's no "cheap enough for a rental company" EV option there anyway regardless of charging practicalities.... likewise there's no equivalent to the $15,000 KIA supercheap rental in the EV space yet.

And outside of the 3/Y there's no EV that can even be supplied in these sorts of numbers to fleets.

All of that needs to change before "where charge" is even a problem broadly for rental fleets.

 

[ArcticStation]

My 70 year old mom and dad (who still make that same 800 mi drive to see me)? No way.

We are in our 70s and have made a number of 1,000+ mile trips over the last three years to visit family without issue in our 2018 Model 3. My thirty-eight year old son-in-law test drove a Y, thought the ride was too rough and bought a Genesis GV80. Our life experience has prepared us for EV ownership, his has not (yet).

 

[tm1v2]

We are in our 70s and have made a number of 1,000+ mile trips over the last three years to visit family without issue in our 2018 Model 3. My thirty-eight year old son-in-law test drove a Y, thought the ride was too rough and bought a Genesis GV80. Our life experience has prepared us for EV ownership, his has not (yet).

Did you ever test drive a Y? I think the Y rides much worse than the 3, it's possible you would feel the same way as your son-in-law about it. I am close to your son-in-law's age btw, and after a test drive I rejected the Y in large part due to ride quality, yet ended up buying an M3P.

 

[texas_star_TM3]

Did you ever test drive a Y? I think the Y rides much worse than the 3, it's possible you would feel the same way as your son-in-law about it. I am close to your son-in-law's age btw, and after a test drive I rejected the Y in large part due to ride quality, yet ended up buying an M3P.

wonder why Tesla hasn't worked on the suspension in the Y. Several car reviews I trust have all referred to very harsh ride quality in the Y. I like my Model 3 but wouldn't want to switch over to something riding even harsher.

 

[RayK]

I don't understand all of this back-and-forth about exactly what model(s) of 3 were bought and exactly how much was paid for them and the discussion about hygroscopic qualities of brake fluid, since I can't hear anywhere near 100kHz.

 

[Knightshade]

And then this happened

https://twitter.com/x/status/1455351085170823169