Should I rent a Tesla 3? (Need answer fast!)

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m taking a four-day trip to Baltimore in April, and when I went to book our rental car, Hertz offered a Model 3 as one of the less expensive options. So I took it.

But now I’m wondering if it might be more trouble than it’s worth.

Two issues: 1) getting familiar with it quickly enough to be able to safe and comfortable driving it, and 2) finding a place to charge it up to 70% before returning it. If I don’t, I have to pay a $35 fee.

My EV credentials:

  • Driving Teslas: none.
  • Owning a 2013 Nissan Leaf: 2 years (five years ago)
  • Owning a 2004 Prius: 1.5 years (currently)

So what do you Tesla owners think? Will I be able to 1) jump into a Model 3 and figure out its essential controls and features without much trouble, and be safe driving it for four days?

Any tips and tricks I should know? Any other pros or cons?

Then 2) charging it. We’ll be staying at a hotel, which AFAIK does not offer charging. I don’t think we can count on visiting anyone’s private house where we could plug in the car’s 120V charger. So we’ll have to either rely on public charging stations or else pay Hertz’s $35 fee. (Which is probably about what I’d pay for gas if I rented an ICE car.)

I’m guessing we’ll drive 200-300 miles during our four days. That’s about the range of the standard Model 3 we’re renting.

I see that EVGO offers fast charging at $0.35 per minute. How long will it take to charge from 10% to 80%?

Can I charge my rented Tesla charge at any Tesla supercharger for free? Other recommendations for charging?

I can cancel this reservation for free by Sunday 1 pm ET, so I look forward to your prompt replies. Thanks.

2

Why not check now whether you can recharge at the hotel?

3

See if there is a supercharger close to a place you’ll be for a while like a restaurant or a museum.

4

I don’t know if Hertz has a deal with Tesla, but I would guess it’s not free. It would certainly be less than $35 and probably take you 20 to 30 minutes tops. There’s no way to “pay at the pump,” so you’ll probably get it added on to your bill at the end. The Nav system will take you to the closest one. On ours, all you have to do is push the voice button and say “Superchargers” and a list appears on the screen.

As far as driving one, it’s not hard to figure out. We have a Model X, so I can advise you on anything specific to the Model 3. There are some things a bit different. We didn’t know, for example, there is no “off” button for the car. You simply take the key fob and walk away. (I wish they would have told us that before we spent some time trying to figure that out)

5

Just did. I had assumed they didn’t, but it turns out they do, for $7/night. So I don’t need any more advice about charging. Thanks.

I called back to see about reserving a charging station, and found out they had misunderstood me. They don’t. So keep the charging suggestions coming.

6

Tesla uses a different plug than other American EV’s. We carry an adapter in our car. If you haven’t already, you should double check that the Hotel can accommodate a Tesla. I would assume it’s not a problem, since a large percentage of EVs are Teslas these days.

BTW, you can probably get by with only one night and be fine. If you’re not driving a lot, you can get a lot of charge overnight that should be sufficient.

7

It took me about 3 miles to get used to looking at the top corner of the center screen for speed. If you’re already used to one pedal driving from the Leaf, then that part will be easy, too.

There are lots of things you can adjust in the settings through the screen. If you like playing with that kind of stuff, expect to spend 20+ minutes in the hotel parking lot. If you hate that kind of stuff, then don’t worry about it. If some feature really annoys you, it might be adjustable, so ask (here, Tesla forum, yell it into the wind, etc.)

It looks like Hertz says for Supercharging, just plug in and they’ll pass the charges onto you. Using a Tesla supercharger is incredibly easy. (Usually) back into the spot, plug the charger in, wait, unplug, leave. There can be idle fees, so don’t stay too long past when it finishes.

Quickest charging is achieved in the bottom half of the battery, so don’t worry about running the car down to 20% or whatever before going to a supercharger. It will get from 20-50% very quickly, so 20-90% doesn’t take that much longer than 50-90%.

Tesla superchargers come in (at least) 3 different speeds, 72kW, 150kW, and 250kW. All things being equal, go to the highest powered supercharger that is convenient. Except, if the battery is at 60% or so, and you just need a quick top-up, go to the closest, because you won’t be able to use the full power of the 250kW one anyway. I mention this because I noticed on Plugshare that the closest supercharger to BWI is only 72kW. There are lots of superchargers around Baltimore.

If you’re using the charger at the hotel, then just plug in whenever it’s available.

Plugshare is the best place to find all of the chargers. You can filter to just be Tesla and j1772 (like on the Leaf). The Tesla will charge at a j1772 if the rental company has included the adapter in the car.

I’m probably making it sound more complicated than it is. Really, treat it just like putting gas in a rental car, but superchargers are the gas station, and instead of 5 minutes, it might take 20-30.

8

Too bad the hotel doesn’t have a charger (though perhaps they’d let you plug it into a 110V outlet?), but if I were you, I’d still rent the Tesla, just to try it out. (My first experience with a Tesla was riding in the back of a Model 3 Uber last month, and it took me a while to figure out how to open the door from both the outside and the inside.)