On a recent Saturday, I faced a new dilemma in a Washington, DC, parking garage: Skip an artist I like (Fletcher) at a music festival, or rent an electric vehicle to get to the show.
I’d already missed part of the All Things Go lineup that afternoon while Hertz sorted out a rental-car shortage. The company eventually offered to fulfill my prepaid reservation with a Polestar 2, a boxy silver unit that boasted, well, earlier availability—but no gas tank.
As a city dweller who hasn’t owned a car in years and rarely drives, I already have some roadway anxiety, and throwing an unfamiliar vehicle into the mix didn’t help. But how hard could it really be, I thought as I sat in the driver’s seat and adjusted the mirrors. As it turns out: not super intuitive in some aspects, shockingly user-friendly in others.
As of July, about 10% of Hertz’s fleet was composed of EVs, meaning that many drivers could potentially be plunged into the world of EVs out of necessity. (Other rental companies are investing in EV fleets, just not as heavily.)
While Hertz tries to make the experience accessible for the uninitiated—for example, by emailing guides to drivers who request EV rentals—I found many of the norms associated with gas-guzzlers simply aren’t there for reference, like the initial rev to indicate the engine is on.
As convenient as the car’s large, tablet-like console was for navigation, it also contributed to some confusion. While the driver presses a physical button to put the car in park, they must navigate through the menu to find a touch-screen button to power off the vehicle. This wasn’t immediately obvious, and I didn’t have strong enough mobile service to search for the answer myself. (I resorted to calling my fiancé and asking him to google how to turn off the car. As a woman, I’ve never felt stronger or more independent!)
The Hertz attendant informed me the car was charged to 45% when he handed it off to me. The upside? The car clearly stated how much charge I had and how much I’d have left when I arrived at my destination, Maryland’s Merriweather Post Pavilion. Recharging wouldn’t become a problem until the second day of the festival.
To get ahead of the issue the next morning, I found a parking garage attached to a restaurant with charging spots included. I plugged the car in and left it to juice up (something I wasn’t totally sure I was allowed to do). As it turns out, EVs don’t need a babysitter, but you should still be aware of basic vehicle charging etiquette. Upon returning from brunch an hour later, I was dismayed to find the battery had only regained about 10 percentage points—barely enough to offset the drive to the restaurant (perhaps not surprising, given that my final bill for the charge was less than $5).
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I decided to pivot and make use of the charging spots I saw in the festival parking garage. But I encountered a plot twist upon arrival: All of the EV spots were taken! With another can’t-miss band taking the stage imminently, I decided to park in a regular spot and deal with charging later.
Around midnight, with Lana Del Rey’s ethereal crooning still ringing in my ears, I unlocked the car and debated my options. That’s when the navigation system flashed a low-battery warning and recommended an Electrify America charging location outside of a now-closed Walmart less than 5 miles away. If I charged at this station for a mere 15 minutes, the car suggested, I’d have more than enough juice to return home safely. After my brunch charging experience, I was wary.
Luckily for me, there was a lengthy line to exit the parking garage. After 10 minutes of frantic googling, I learned that not all charging cables or stations are created equal. In contrast with the 7.2 kW cable at the Blink Charging station I’d used that morning, which is designed for more gradual recharging during overnight or extended stops, Electrify America stations boast 150 kW fast-charging cables that ultimately gave me a 50% charge in under 20 minutes for less than $20. (Depending on the vehicle’s capacity, you may be able to use the heftier 350 kW charger instead.)
While the DC current flowed at the Electrify America station, I sat in the driver’s seat and sent my best friend a series of incredulous/enthusiastic voice memos about the experience. Yes, the learning curve was a little anxiety-inducing. I never stopped thinking about my precise battery level or stressing about where I could charge up next.
But once I mastered those logistics, the experience of renting and driving an EV as a first-timer was, dare I say, electrifying. It gave me a lot of hope for the future of transportation and confidence that I, too, could participate in it.