Questions about renting a Tesla for a Road Trip

[Maxim_9]

So I have an upcoming business trip, and I can either drive my car or rent one. I've made a reservation for a Model Y via Hertz, but have some questions.

I currently own a Model 3 LR edition, but have opted to rent a car. I have made this particular drive once already in my car, but I have questions about renting a Tesla.


Will I be able to use the Tesla app on my phone to unlock the rental Model Y?
Do I need to return the rental with the car charged to 100%?
Does Hertz keep tabs on vehicle telemetry like GPS info, speed, acceleration, etc?
How does Supercharging work? Do I sync my phone to the rental so that the supercharging sessions are charged to my personal Tesla account?
If I do pay for supercharging with my account, how do I go about setting that up?
Will my settings for things like music, etc. carry over to the rental?
Will the car have the premium data package that shows traffic patters, allows for route planning, etc?
Is there any quirk or other thing I'm missing that I need to be aware of?

Thanks for your help!

 

[karkrazy]

Will I be able to use the Tesla app on my phone to unlock the rental Model Y?
Do I need to return the rental with the car charged to 100%?
Does Hertz keep tabs on vehicle telemetry like GPS info, speed, acceleration, etc?
How does Supercharging work? Do I sync my phone to the rental so that the supercharging sessions are charged to my personal Tesla account?
If I do pay for supercharging with my account, how do I go about setting that up?
Will my settings for things like music, etc. carry over to the rental?
Will the car have the premium data package that shows traffic patters, allows for route planning, etc?
Is there any quirk or other thing I'm missing that I need to be aware of?

- no, no app usage
- only need to return at/above 70%
-
- supercharging is billed back by hertz to your c/c on file. They charge whatever Tesla charges, no markup
- it’s a rental, not your car. They’ll give you a key card in a solid clear plastic case
- will have basic data, not premium connectivity
- key card, no app controls

Good luck!

 

[Maxim_9]

- no, no app usage
- only need to return at/above 70%
-
- supercharging is billed back by hertz to your c/c on file. They charge whatever Tesla charges, no markup
- it’s a rental, not your car. They’ll give you a key card in a solid clear plastic case
- will have basic data, not premium connectivity
- key card, no app controls

Good luck!

Cool, thanks. With the basic data package that comes with it, I'll still be able to route plan, correct?

 

[edigest]

So I have an upcoming business trip, and I can either drive my car or rent one. I've made a reservation for a Model Y via Hertz, but have some questions.

Will I be able to use the Tesla app on my phone to unlock the rental Model Y?

Hertz now has a tool to sync your phone -- a QR code pops up on the screen -- but it did not work well on my last Hertz rental.

Do I need to return the rental with the car charged to 100%?

Return with the same charge you went out with or 70%, which ever is higher.

Does Hertz keep tabs on vehicle telemetry like GPS info, speed, acceleration, etc?

Don't know.

How does Supercharging work? Do I sync my phone to the rental so that the supercharging sessions are charged to my personal Tesla account?

If I do pay for supercharging with my account, how do I go about setting that up?

Charges are passed through from the Hertz Supercharger account and end up on your bill at the end.

Will my settings for things like music, etc. carry over to the rental?
Will the car have the premium data package that shows traffic patters, allows for route planning, etc?

Settings will not migrate from your other vehicle in the app. You will need to add device to bluetooth. Previous Hertz rentals have had premium connectivity, but the last one I rented did not. Route planning worked, but no traffic.

Is there any quirk or other thing I'm missing that I need to be aware of?

Take pics of the wheels. Curb rash has been a problem on 100% of the M3s and MYs I've rented.

 

[bmah]

I wrote up my experiences with Hertz in another thread here:

Trip Report: Orlando, FL

My family and I rented a Model Y from Hertz on a recent vacation to Orlando, FL. We used it for a little less than a week, mostly around the Orlando area, but we did a day trip to Fort Lauderdale. Hertz and Tesla did a very good job setting the cars up so that Tesla owners will feel right at...

teslamotorsclub.com

Be sure to read through the replies to my original posting, they contain a few tidbits that I wasn't aware of.

Addressing a couple of OP's specific questions:

I did have my cloud profile settings migrate over from my Model X (Palladium, non-Plaid) my Hertz rental Model Y. This seemed to take effect almost immediately after I scanned teh QR code to add the car to my Tesla app. I'm not sure what this did with music settings, but definitely included my preference to mute the turn-by-turn voice guidance. Note you can only do this with one profile setting per rental.

My car had premium connectivity. This might have been a trial, I'm not sure.

Bruce.

 

[Maxim_9]

I wrote up my experiences with Hertz in another thread here:

Trip Report: Orlando, FL

My family and I rented a Model Y from Hertz on a recent vacation to Orlando, FL. We used it for a little less than a week, mostly around the Orlando area, but we did a day trip to Fort Lauderdale. Hertz and Tesla did a very good job setting the cars up so that Tesla owners will feel right at...

teslamotorsclub.com

Be sure to read through the replies to my original posting, they contain a few tidbits that I wasn't aware of.

Addressing a couple of OP's specific questions:

I did have my cloud profile settings migrate over from my Model X (Palladium, non-Plaid) my Hertz rental Model Y. This seemed to take effect almost immediately after I scanned teh QR code to add the car to my Tesla app. I'm not sure what this did with music settings, but definitely included my preference to mute the turn-by-turn voice guidance. Note you can only do this with one profile setting per rental.

My car had premium connectivity. This might have been a trial, I'm not sure.

Bruce.

Thanks for pointing me to your writeup. The most important thing you mentioned was the fact the car didn't come with a J1772 adapter, so I'll be sure to pack mine, since I'm planning to stay at a hotel that has L2 Chargepoint chargers.

I am a bit unsure what to expect, I spoke with my boss, (who had no EV experience at the time) and he told me about his experience renting a Model 3, and that they evidently didn't give him any information on how to go about charging the car, and he ended up taking the car back because he didn't know the difference between third party L2 chargers and the Tesla Superchargers.

 

[karkrazy]

Thanks for pointing me to your writeup. The most important thing you mentioned was the fact the car didn't come with a J1772 adapter, so I'll be sure to pack mine, since I'm planning to stay at a hotel that has L2 Chargepoint chargers.

I am a bit unsure what to expect, I spoke with my boss, and he told me about his experience renting a Model 3, and that they evidently didn't give him any information on how to go about charging the car, and he ended up taking the car back because he didn't know the difference between third party L2 chargers and the Tesla Superchargers.

Yeah, the car I was provided didn’t have the J1772 adapter either, but it did have the UMC, complete with the NEMA 14-50 pigtail.

My rental was just back in August, and the hertz employees at pickup were clueless too. Didn’t see the QR code to migrate profile settings or for app usage either… but oh well.

 

[vanjwilson]

My wife and I reserved a Model 3 from Hertz for a trip to Miami back in October 2022. They spammed my email nearly every day for 2 weeks with links to short, concise how-to videos and articles about driving the Tesla. It looks like some of that info is available on their public site, Electric Vehicles

It seems that the corporate automation is well-thought out, but the bandwidth and training for front-line employees does not allow for much guidance if you get an EV at a rental desk.

 

[Maxim_9]

My wife and I reserved a Model 3 from Hertz for a trip to Miami back in October 2022. They spammed my email nearly every day for 2 weeks with links to short, concise how-to videos and articles about driving the Tesla. It looks like some of that info is available on their public site, Electric Vehicles

It seems that the corporate automation is well-thought out, but the bandwidth and training for front-line employees does not allow for much guidance if you get an EV at a rental desk.

Yeah, I've been getting those emails, too.

I had to move my trip from this week to next week, and got a call from the local Hertz office, apparently the Model Y I had reserved isn't available, so I'll be subbing a Model 3 SR instead. I was able to ask the Hertz rep about state of charge, inclusion of a J-1772 adapter, etc. She told me that the car will have a J-1772 adapter with it, that they typically charge their cars to 90-100%, and that they would like to have the car returned at a 90% state of charge, or there's a $25 fee. Depending on what time I get back to town, I may just pay the $25 fee.

 

[Mr. Nuke]

inclusion of a J-1772 adapter, etc. She told me that the car will have a J-1772 adapter with it,

I would still plan on taking your own with you especially given that you intend on charging at your hotel. As @bmah 's experience noted and my anecdotal experience renting Tesla's from a couple of different companies now and different locations what is actually in the trunk has varied even within the same rental car company i.e. my budget rental last week in Orlando had nothing in the trunk other than than the front license plate bracket whereas my last budget rental in San Fransisco had the full UMC and J-1172 adapter.

 

[Maxim_9]

So I'm back from my trip. My drive was about 380 miles, pretty much all of it highway driving. When I went to go pick up the car, I asked if it had a J-1772 adapter. The Hertz guy wasn't sure what that was, and we checked the trunk where it did have the charging kit for using a 220 volt RV hookup, but no J-1772. Luckily he was able to locate one and gave it to me.

They weren't able to give me the LR Model Y I had reserved originally, telling me that it was one of the cars Hertz had decided to sell. So they ended up substituting a Model 3 Standard Range that showed about 260 miles of range when charged to 100%. This ended up not being a huge deal. Even during the longest leg of the trip (about 130 miles) cruising on the highway at about 85 MPH, I was still able to make it to the next supercharger with 14% remaining on the battery, from a charge of about 90%. Less than I'd like, but still totally doable.

Supercharging was uneventful, with the only downside being that the midway stop is at a hotel that isn't near any amenities. My first supercharging stop is near a Mexican restaurant that's quite good, so I took the time to do a full charge there and eat lunch.

Now, the "bad"

It's not really that bad. The car didn't have premium connectivity, so I just had to stream audio from my phone via Bluetooth. Not that big of a deal.

Syncing the car to my phone and the Tesla app was pretty straightforward, I just had to scan the QR code and add my phone in the app, and that was fine.

I did run into an issue where the seat was constantly not in the right position, even after running the calibration setting on the seat. When I got home, my wife mentioned that she had to constantly adjust the seat on our Model 3, and wasn't sure what was up. My suspicion is that my personal car was still defaulting to my driver profile, and the software had an issue reconciling between the seat settings in my rental vs. in our Model 3. Not sure. But that was kind of annoying.

Also, I noticed that after driving for a bit over an hour, I'd start to get sciatic pain. I've had this with my car, too. Adjusting the seats seems to help a bit, as well as doing some stretching when charging. I'm not sure if this is an issue with the way Tesla designed car seats, or if I'm just getting old.

On my return trip, I opted not to stop and supercharge, so turned the car in with about 25% on the battery. I assume I'll get charged $25 for it, but by that point I was just ready to be done with the trip and didn't feel like spending time sitting at a supercharger.

I'll have to make this same trip in the future, and if Teslas are available to rent, I'll continue to use them.

 

[vanjwilson]

Flying to California to visit family and friends over the next week. Renting a Model Y to drive. (They were out of Model 3 LR.)

Hertz hasn't been bombarding me with informational emails this time, but they have sent a couple of "how-to-live-with-an-electric-car" emails over the last few weeks.

Then, last night I received a really comprehensive email with links to several tutorials, including using your phone as a key. (They weren't offering that yet when I rented a year and a half ago.)

Here are copies of those links:

• Unlock, lock and start Model Y using its innovative key card
• Use your phone as your Tesla digital key
• Welcome to Model Y
• Tips for your first drive
• Charging Model Y

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Just got back from UK where I rented a Model 3 LR AWD from Hertz.

The target return percentage is 75%, so I returned it with 76%

All 4 rims had the worst curb rash I've ever seen, so always check for that.

No traffic on the display, but the routing allows for it.

I took the USB drive from the Model 3 left parked at the airport in the States, to ensure I had TeslaCam.

Charging experience was good, but Tesla needs more Superchargers in the UK. Far better experience than the Polestar I'd rented on a prior visit.