But the biggest rental companies should start to feel the the demand for good EV. I've emailed them dozens of time as I could never find a Tesla or comparable EV in large European cities. Or I'd have to pay an outrageous price because they listed EV in the ultra luxury category.
I'm used to rent EV on Getaround but the app isn't that great (they don't know how to properly redirect you between different local versions of their website). Also, I believe most of the Teslas listed there are fake: owner will never accept the transaction but you still led to think they have lots of inventory to encourage you to continue searching and book a few cars (just in case). I also had some very bad experiences with owners abusing their extremely-used cars to make a few bucks, and rent a car with a flat tire(!) or some stupid technical problems (breaking issues…).
I have rented countless Tesla cars on Toro with zero problems, ever. FWIW, S3XY all in the US only.
I have rented Tesla in Italy for a Milan-based Tesla group, and form several other EU-based groups.
I even rented a Model S from Hertz SFO back in 2012. I have no idea how many, but in all my rentals I've never had a problem.
Without a doubt the big Tesla renters such as Hertz and Sixt do a poor job of optimizing their deals in some places but are superb in others.
Hertz Nice even had Supercharger use included for some time, I don't know if they still do. It was geofenced so ddi not include some countries (e.g. italy) but did allow Supercharging which they passed through.
The biggest problem in mainstream Tesla rentals, IMHO, is that the inconsistency instructions and lack of ability to use normal features, including app access make the placement less desirable than they should be.
There is a simple solution. Tesla itself could enable all of that for every rental though a supplemental note in rental contracts. That could be made quite elegant, and even include a Tesla purchase offer. Long ago such things have been in use in various product categories from aircraft, boats and cars to consumer electrical products.
Since Tesla is experimenting with myriad promotional offers this one seems to be an obviously effective low cost avenue, certainly attractive to rental car firms as well. They might even check old US 2013-2015 history when they used to offer service loaners through Enterprise and also used them for extended test drives with refunds for sales. I don't know how widely that practice was, but it did happen at least in South East Florida when they had only a single showroom and serviced center in a strip mall.
Maybe it's time to do it again.
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