Charged incorrectly twice on the same rental
 

I rented an Intermediate EV at PHX last week. When I got there they had literally under 10 cars in their lot and no EVs. I went to the counter to see what my options were. I was told that I could wait a minimum of an hour and they might have a car available, or pay an extra $20/day plus tax for a Kia Soul. I said that I felt it was their issue and I should be given the Kia Soul for free but they wouldn't budge.

I had to get moving so I just agreed to take the Kia Soul and moved on. It's now a few days later and I just now see a random authorization for $57 on my credit card. I looked online and see that they charged me for refueling he car. Thankfully I took a photo of the dash and kept my gas station receipt.

I just called in and they removed the refueling fee and he upgrade fee.

Seems like a really scummy location. Thankful that customer service fixed the issue though.

Side note. The Kia Soul is ugly as hell but honestly it was a decent car.

They are charging more for a Soul than an inter EV? I guess I don't understand the EV market.

The problem is not the location, it's the corporate culture and revenue strategies which are premised on cheating customers.
Has nothing to do with "the EV Market." It has to do with renters not wanting EVs and rental agencies dumping inventory.

I just looked at prices for cars in PHX and am very surprised by how much cheaper EVs are than regular gas cars. So my statement pretty much holds true, at the time I wrote that, I did not understand the EV market.

Got it. The market for rental EVs is not what Hertz hoped/expected. I suspect it may actually have gotten worse over time, because those who have experimented now realize what a pain it is to charge an EV prior to drop off, compared to a quick stop at the gas station.

Agree. Hertz did not think that through. Most of the Hertz stations don't even have a way to charge them if they come back empty.

I wanted a Tesla at SEA for an upcoming rental. Admittedly I am a Tesla driver, so I know how/where to charge, and it’s zero problem in the SEA area. But Teslas aren’t even an option to choose anymore at Hertz when I looked the other day (I am burning my remaining points, but even for cash, EVs are apparently not a vehicle category on offer).

This is exactly the reason people don't want to rent EVs, even (like me) they love them.

I can refill a gas tank close to the drop off location in 5 minutes. A charge point may be close or it may not be, but regardless I am not going to sit charging before my flight home. And if I return it needing top up, I get a charge (no pun) on my card weeks after, which doesn't often seem to be able to be matched to a receipt in my account, so I get expenses hassle from work.

All that could be changed (in my case) by dropping the recharge fee.

It is even worse in the city of San Francisco. Even though you would think SF would be a hotspot for EVs - in reality, there are no fast Tesla charging stations in the entire eastern half of the city - i.e. the part where all of the hotels, convention center, Pier 39, Market Street, Chinatown, Embarcadero waterfront, etc etc. And what fast charging stations that do exist, both Tesla and non-Tesla, charge parking and/or valet fees on top of the electricity served. The net is that renting an electric car does not save you fuel cost, on top of the extra 2 to 4 hours needed to recharge an EV to return.
Note furthermore that the range/recharge is a no-win proposition for a car renter: if you get the car fully charged, charging it to return in that state is a multi-hour affair. But if you get the car at a lesser charge, you are very likely to not be able to do a round trip on the existing charge. I have had both experiences: getting an EV at 50% which was insufficient to return from Napa on a day trip; the 2nd attempt saw me get an EV at 98% but then having to spend 4.5 hours to recharge to 100% to return.
In both cases, I spent more time charging the vehicle than driving it. A LOT more, like multiple hours more.
NEVER AGAIN.