![]() ![]() These are great, potentially planet-saving machines, but the ordeal made me want to wage a slash-and-burn campaign against all of them. Only 4 percent of Americans own an EV, but Hertz plans for a quarter of its fleet to be electric by the end of next year. After my disastrous weekend, I talked to three rental-car experts: All of them were familiar with the phenomenon of the surprise EV, a result of how much the industry is leaning into electric cars. Maybe the same thing will happen to you, if it hasn’t already. It was a crash course in EVs for four people who had never heard of CCS versus CHAdemo, the 80/20 rule, and Level 3 chargers. Just a few hours of highway driving would sap the battery, leaving me and my friends scrounging for public chargers in desolate parking lots, the top floors of garages, and hotels with plugs marked for guests only. ![]() With no forewarning, no experience driving an EV, and virtually no guidance, what was supposed to be a restful trip upstate was anything but. “Sorry, it’s all we have,” the man at the Hertz counter in downtown Brooklyn said as he handed over the keys. What I did not consider was an electric car. Three days earlier, I had booked Hertz’s cheapest option-in this case, the “Manager’s Special”-assuming I’d end up with a forgettable sedan. My car needs an hour of charging before it’s ready to go again. The adrenaline rush of sweet victory is immediately tempered by an emotional letdown. Thirty minutes of waiting for a charger to free up is bringing out my most Darwinian instincts: Like an eagle swooping down to nab a goat, my tiny black Chevy Bolt EUV swings into the spot before the pickup even knows what’s happening. It’s Memorial Day, and I’m in a runt of a rental car trying to outmaneuver a Ford F-150 Lightning. The best way to cap a weekend road trip, I can assure you, is not by jostling for an EV charger outside a Sheetz gas station in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
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