this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2024
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I initially read the headline as referring to maintenance costs, but it's actually because people who rent EVs were using them under the rent to gig economy business they had. As in, people would rent cars to go do Uber Eats deliveries and such, as the EVs weren't being rented as often as expected from regular rental business. The people who rented these EVs were more likely to damage the vehicle than people who rented gas cars, and the repairs for that damage were more costly to fix.
There wasn't a great explanation as to why the EV rentals were more likely to get into accidents, but it's possible that the EVs were more confusing to operate, or more likely to be driven more aggressively due to the acceleration and performance. It's also possible that the EV models they had were more prone to other issues, like blind spots, worse breaking, or insufficient self-driving, but they didn't seem to distinguish between different makes and models as being more prone to damage.
Reuters noted that they had to put torque and speed limiters on the fleet EVs. These are cars that have performance stats that you would have found on a Viper or Corvette in the previous decade.
I imagine that the following combo is a recipe for disaster: flagship sports car speed + touchscreen centric car controls + eyeballs on mobile delivery apps
Don't forget people not caring about the car because it's a rental.
Correct, but that’s true for all rentals. ICE and EV.
My guess is that the disproportionate damage costs are due to something that’s more common with EVs.
My guess is that repair costs are higher because they have to be sent out for expensive repairs because the car software is locked down so they cannot repair them in-house.
That's what the future is coming to with cars. No more fixing with your own parts at home.
Note that Tesla, specifically, does not allow any third-party repairs. They simply don't make the parts available to independent shops. They are very much like Apple in this regard.
From my understanding, EVs from Chevy and Ford follow the same model as their ICE models. You may have difficulty finding independent mechanics that can work on their EVs, but it's not because the manufacturer is freezing them out.
I drive a Tesla. The same one they bought a whole fleet of. Can confirm: is unnecessarily fast and fun. And it's the slowest one they make.
Anecdotally, people in my area definitely haul ass with their EVs in my part of down. They accelerate quickly, and people very much enjoy punching it.
I paid for the whole speedometer and I’m gonna use it.
For real though people should absolutely maximize the capability of EVs to get up to speed with the intention of reducing traffic and keeping flow. That’s the best part about them!
I find the acceleration quite dangerous. I was trying to pass a truck the other day and move to get in the left lane. As I’m doing so, a Tesla that I couldn’t see pops out from the car behind me and starts trying to pass the truck too. I swerved back into the right lane to avoid being rear ended. With the fast acceleration, Tesla drivers are prone to doing erratic things faster than other cars on the road can predict and react to.
Uber Eats incentivizes driving recklessly. The faster you can complete a delivery, the more deliveries you can make in a night. Also you'll be out during bad ice storms and other weather that reasonable people wouldn't drive in unless necessary. Renting an EV might make the math add up better for doing deliveries, but were it economical to have a fleet of ICE cars doing gig deliveries I suspect they'd have similar issues with damage, although the acceleration and top speed of their EVs might be making the problem worse.
I've only driven EVs a few times for benchmarking but every time I have a hard time adjusting to the single pedal driving. I'm sure you get used to it soon, but if you are just renting short term or may be not enough time to adjust
Wait which cars have single pedal? On forklifts and such it's my most hated configuration.
From what I have seen on YouTube they all have both pedals, but some have the option for regenerative breaking (single pedal operation).
They have two pedals, but with EVs you basically brake when you remove your for from the "gas" pedal
Oh so regen on release. Not my favourite config. I was experimenting with regen on a front motor ebike before and the best way for my comfort that I found was a slider that controls regen amount so you can either coast/bomb hills, or have a similar feeling to gearing down on a stick shift car when the slider is turned up.
This is always a user-enabled option. On the Chevy Bolt, it's a button on the center console that you have to activate every time you turn it on.
The presence of the setting is appreciated, but not saving config or even just being a physical toggle switch is cursed.
I imagine it's a safety thing. This way, every time you get into a Bolt (and possibly other EVs; I don't know how their switches are configured) it's in a known state. You will not be surprised (the hard way) when you pick it up from the mechanic, or your SO drove it previously, etc, and discover that it's in 2-pedal mode.
Except Tesla, where regen power is always at the maximum level.