Just arrived to Florida for a 2 week stint. Prior to arriving we had booked a compact car rental through Dollar (via Expedia). Didn’t know we were getting an EV, but that’s what we got without paying more (scummy tactics, but that’s an aside).
So we have this Chevy Bolt, which is actually kinda cool and enjoyable to drive. However, we’re definitely not going to go far on a charge and will need to refill at least a few times.
Downloaded Plugshare, and looked for charging stations close to our hotel (which unfortunately does not have charging). OMG I feel sick to my stomach at what charging is going to cost us. Nearby chargers are “$5 fee plus $0.50/minute” or even “$10 per hour”.
Any advice for how to make this EV rental at least as cost effective as a gas car?
$10 dollars an hour is a bargain if that’s a level 3 charger (a DC fast charger). The math is somewhat complex (you take the watt delivery from the charger versus the battery size, then convert into miles per dollar, then take the expected miles per gallon of an equivalent gasoline car and take the current average price of gas to convert into miles per dollar), but you’ll see you’re winning.
The numbers suck if that’s a level 2 charger (an AC charger), though, unless it was connected to medium voltage.