10 Ideas To Make Renting A Tesla From Hertz 10× Better

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Tesla owner Frenchie recently rented a Tesla from Hertz and shared 10 ideas on making the experience 10 times better. I think these ideas provide great feedback for Hertz, which could implement them and make renting an EV even better.

I think that for people to experience a Tesla EV, companies utilizing them in rental fleets would fare better listening to some of these ideas. And although some are Tesla-specific, such as relating to Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, others can be implemented by fleets that have a variety of EVs.

Frenchie’s 10 Ideas

Temporary App Access

The first idea is to grant temporary app access. Frenchie was given a key card and missed out on a lot of features such as Summon, live camera, and pre-conditioning.

“Having temporary access for the duration of your rental and automatically added to an existing or new Tesla account would be a great addition.”

Personalized Welcome Message

If you’ve ever been to a hotel room, you might have noticed a welcome message on the TV screen. It is a nice personal touch. Frenchie pointed this out and I agree.

Ensure All Cars Have The Latest Update

Frenchie noted that for renters to have the best possible experience, all the Tesla vehicles in the fleet need to be on the latest update.

“Even if the car isn’t on WiFi, Tesla should force those VINs to upgrade via LTE.”

After tweeting the thread, Frenchie received a lot of feedback on his ideas and shared one of those with me for this idea in a Twitter direct message. He said that it was suggested to him to not force the upgrade over LTE, but instead to make sure WiFi is set up at Hertz so that no upgrade is forced during a rental period.

“It should upgrade at the Hertz location over WiFi and block any upgrade during a rental period.”

Cloud Profiles

This is a feature that would enable existing Tesla customers to add their driver profiles to their rental.

“Ideally, Spotify, Netflix, etc. would also have your credentials loaded. Everything loaded even before you unlock the car. One step closer to a full frictionless experience.”

Low Battery Warning

This would probably be good for all EVs in any rental fleet. Frenchie pointed out that Hertz wants renters to return the car back with at least 20%. What would be helpful is if the car could calculate the consumption, distance, and charging habit and warn the renter if it’s likely they would return it with less than 20%.

“In-car notification with suggested superchargers would be the ultimate experience.”

Pre-Loaded Destination

Another idea to make renting Teslas ideal is to have the Google Navigation app add Hertz pickup and drop-off locations as favorites. The renter could easily swipe right and go to the drop-off location.

Tesla’s Autopilot & Full Sell-Driving Options

Frenchie noted that the car he rented had Autopilot and assumes that all are the same. He added that he wished Hertz offered FSD as an option but not offer FSD Beta until wide release. However, Navigate on Autopilot would be helpful to those renting cars from airports since they are most likely not familiar with the area.

Hertz Dedicated Training

A Hertz dedicated app that included training videos and useful information such as shuttles to the airport and battery levels would be helpful, Frenchie noted.

More Options

Adding a variety of Tesla options would ensure that renters have access to more Tesla EVs to explore. Frenchie pointed out that Hertz should have the refreshed Model S and X as an option.

“Renting a Model Y was great. I wish Hertz would have Model S and X (refreshed) as an option. These are expensive cars that I could only afford to rent while I could probably finance/buy a 3/Y.”

Availability

Unfortunately, not every Hertz location offers EVs. Frenchie travels to Newark, and although it is a large airport, it doesn’t have any EV options.

Frenchie’s Overall Experience Renting A Tesla From Hertz

I asked Frenchie to share what he thought of the overall experience of renting a Tesla from Hertz. He told me:

“The overall experience was good, but it could certainly be improved. I put myself into the shoes of a non-EV/non-Tesla user and I felt that the process was less refined and polished than renting a traditional ICE car.

“Tesla ownership has been frictionless and enjoyable. Renting one from Hertz didn’t feel the same. It’s a glance at what owning a Tesla is but it’s definitely not the full experience.”


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Johnna Crider

Johnna owns less than one share of $TSLA currently and supports Tesla's mission. She also gardens, collects interesting minerals and can be found on TikTok

Johnna Crider has 1996 posts and counting. See all posts by Johnna Crider