Originally Posted by
docbert
Rented a "Managers Special EV" at Denver Airport last week, and was assigned a Polestar 2. Guy at the exit asked me if I wanted to pre-pay my gas. When I asked him how it worked, he started explaining that I could return with the gas tank full, or I could pre-pay based on the size of the tank... When I pointed out it was an EV he did a bit of a double-take, then stated my options were to pre-pay $35 and I could return it at any level, or return it at least 70% charged for no fee. I asked what would happen if I didn't pre-pay but then returned it less than 70%, and he pretty much outright stated that wasn't an option - which obviously doesn't make much sense. I chose not to pre-pay.
After pickup I noticed the the contract had the regular "Fuel Responsibility" section which stated that if I didn't return it "full" I would have to pay a "refueling charge of $10.20 per gallon OR $0.106 per mile driven.". Given I was only driving about 70 miles, the per-mile price actually made sense (relatively to the time/effort/cost of recharging it myself) - although in truth I wasn't sure that was actually how they were going to charge (if only due to the "per gallon" rate mentioned too!)
Not surprisingly, I wasn't charged at the per mile rate, but instead the "EV Battery Recharge" fee of $35+tax - close to 4 times what the per mile rate was. A request via the website went unanswered for over a week, so I ended up calling in and although they were adamant the fee was correct (despite what the contract said), they did make a "one-time exception" by removing it. The agent also committed to report the error on the contact, although I have my doubts...
Hertz's official policy is frustratingly difficult to find (they keep changing their website and stuff keeps moving around), but you can glean some details from
this link, which has two charges listed:
Charge Purchase Option: Electric Vehicle charged battery purchased in advance at Hertz at time of rental for $35.00. Can return EV at any charge level above 10%. If returned with less than 10% Undercharge Battery Fee will apply (see above).
Recharge Battery Fee: Charge for cost of charging vehicle if an Electric Vehicle is returned with less than 70% battery and the Charge Purchase Option was not purchaseed at time of rental a $35.00 fee will be charged.
Undercharge Battery Fee: If an Electric Vehicle is returned with less than 10% battery a $25.00 fee will be charged.
From that (and from our personal experience renting EVs from Hertz), you can tell that the amount you were charged was actually correct, regardless of what the agent said.
The policy is basically: return the car with at least 70% battery or there's a $35 recharge fee. It actually doesn't matter whether you "prepay" for the charge ahead for $35 (it doesn't state there, but elsewhere, Hertz does say it's refundable if you bring the car back with at least 70%) or don't prepay and just return the car with 69% or less battery--in all cases, it's just a flat $35 fee (unless you also bring it back with less than 10%, in which case it's another $25 on top of the $35). There is no per-mile or per-percentage charge--it's all or nothing ($35 or $0).
Elsewhere, too, Hertz indicates that if you receive the vehicle with less than 80%, then the recharge fee is waived, and you don't have to bring the car back with 70% (but you still need to return it with at least 10% to avoid the $25 fee).
I'm sure this policy is likely to change in the future as processes and technology get refined, but that's the policy as of early 2023.