Hertz LEAF Rentals in NYC

[tps]

I'm planning to take the Hertz LEAF on a 60 mile drive tomorrow; maybe I'll go a bit further if things look good.

I just took a look at Google Maps and the reported distance from the LEAF's parking spot to my house is 78.4 miles, so it might be possible to bring it home if I rented it for the weekend. Not much public charging between there and here, yet. I'd have to have a way to charge it L2 at home or wait a whole day for it to recharge. Bringing it to Philadelphia for a day might turn out to be expensive, but I'm sure my PD would flip out if I drove into the lot in a LEAF! Maybe I'll attempt this next time I rent the LEAF.

 

[tps]

Well, I'm sitting in the cafe at J&R Music & Computer World right now. Just as I was getting off the train at Penn Station, I got a text message from Hertz that I'd been rescheduled to a VW Beatle, instead of the LEAF. I called, and they said the LEAF did not have enough charge, so I told them I'd go there to check out the situation. When I got there, the problem was obvious; the previous driver had not plugged it in!. I gave Hertz another call and had them unlock the door, and I plugged the LEAF in. So I'll try to drive it later this afternoon or this evening. Of course, I WILL plug it in after I'm done!

 

[tps]

Well, I'm back home now. Unfortunately I did not get to drive the LEAF today, but at least it will be fully charged for the person who has it rented tomorrow morning. I guess I'm what the Wizard of Oz called a "good deed doer".

 

[kmp647]

Hertz should set up a connection for customers to see the live charge status of the leaf on the connect website, that way you know

 

[davewill]

Hertz should set up a connection for customers to see the live charge status of the leaf on the connect website, that way you know

They should have checked status of the car right after the previous renter turned it in. Heck, the LEAF itself could have sent them a warning that the car was back at home base, but not plugged in.

 

[tps]

Well, I'm planning to rent the NYC Hertz LEAF next week for a couple days and drive it to my home on the north side of Philadelphia. I might be able to make it without recharging, but my plan is to stop at the train station in Hamilton NJ, and pick up a bit of charge. It will definitely be an interesting time!

 

[tps]

My plans are up in the air again. I just got a text message saying my reservation had be switched to a Prius. So I called customer support to see what the problem is. "A customer has driven too far and the LEAF is stranded with no charge. We'll have to tow it, and the policy is to switch all reservations for a seven day period." I'm beginning to wonder if the LEAF is more trouble than it's worth to Hertz...

 

[tps]

Well, today was successful, the Hertz NYC LEAF is now sitting outside my house charging. I'm using an EVSEUpgrade.com unit plugged into a 30 amp dryer outlet, working great (thanks, Phil).

My trip earlier this afternoon started at the Hertz LEAF's home at the Seward Park Coop, I traveled through the Holland Tunnel and down US Route 1 to Hamilton, NJ, where I stopped at the parking garage at the train station to charge for a couple hours. It only took 6 of 12 bars on the SOC to make that 60 mile trip, so I'm sure I could have made it the 25 remaining miles to my house, but since this was my first "road" trip, my plan was very conservative, and I stuck to the plan. They have a huge PV array on top of this parking garage, so my recharge there was "zero emission".

On the way home, I stopped by the local Nissan dealer, from whom I will be purchasing my LEAF. None of those guys had actually seen a LEAF, and when I pulled up the building emptied out. Everyone who wasn't with a customer was out getting their first peek at the LEAF. I took two groups of their sales associates for rides (good thing I picked up some extra charge).

Then I drove the rest of the way home. When I arrived, the Hubbell 9337C plug I bought on Ebay to make the drier adapter was waiting for me, delivered by Fedex earlier in the day. It is the first plug I've seen which uses allen screws to clamp the wires, so I had to make a trip to the local Home Depot to get an allen key set (double good I got some extra charge earlier). The battery level dropped to the "red" bars about a mile from home...

Anyway, I finished the adapter; the car's charging fine (thanks again, Phil). And thanks also to Marie and Melissa at Hertz for making sure the car was ready for me after the last renter drove it out of juice. I took some pictures, and will take more a post them on Facebook...

 

[tps]

BTW - My trip down from NYC gave those along the route what's likely a very rare (in this area) opportunity to spot a LEAF in the wild. So far as I could tell, only one guy noticed. He was driving a van, I think it was on Canal St in NYC, and he said "Nice car"...

 

[JCBNJB]

Congratulations on your maiden journey! Looking forward to seeing the initial East coast photos!

 

[tps]

A few pictures from yesterday:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1846349364941.2089705.1426870025&l=95afa4e81e&type=1

I've got the car rented until tomorrow so maybe I'll take some less geeky pictures today. Overnight the car charged fully; now says 105 miles!

edit: More photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1847584595821.2089770.1426870025&l=404dd71786&type=1

 

[tps]

I might end up with the "EV smile" frozen onto my face by the end of the day. The LEAF is really fun to drive! Tomorrow will be a sad day when I have to turn it in... My next chance to drive a LEAF will be the "Drive Electric" tour stop here in Philly. It would have been interesting had I rented the LEAF during the Philly "Drive Electric" event and showed up in a LEAF for my LEAF test drive.

This Hertz NYC LEAF has not seen that much action, yet. When I drove it the first time in April, it had 220 miles on the odometer; by the end of July it has 1650 miles. Still the newest car I've ever driven (and it probably will remain so until I get my very own, brand new 2012 Nissan LEAF)

 

[LEAFer]

Nice ! Thanks for the report and pictures. What kind of receptacle was presented at the Hamilton, NJ garage ?

 

[tps]

Nice ! Thanks for the report and pictures. What kind of receptacle was presented at the Hamilton, NJ garage ?

It was a 6-20 straight blade.

 

[tps]

Today is a sad day; I turned the LEAF in. Over the past 2 days, I drove it 275 miles in the city, on country roads, on the Turnpike, and at night. Any doubts about whether it's the car for me are completely gone. The LEAF performed flawlessly.

I found that normal "D" worked better for me than "ECO". I suspect that my performance in "ECO" might actually be worse, as it gave way too much regen when I lifted my foot from the accelerator; I found it easier to lightly press the brake when I wanted substantial regen. But that's just my driving style.

BTW -- this car's VIN was just under 300, so I'm thinking this is a fairly early LEAF; no clue as to whether it has had the updates. And it's still low milage; when I took it out is had right around 1650 miles on the odometer.

When I got back in my Malibu after 2 days of the LEAF's instantaneous and precise accelerator response, I was immediately reminded how clumsy a normal car feels in comparison.

My next chance to drive a LEAF will be the Philly "Drive Electric" event; I'll be taking the 5 minute spin likely in one of the "California 562" cars. Don't know if I'll try to rent the Hertz LEAF again before I get my chance to order "before the end of the year"...

Anyway, the last couple days were a lot of fun. I can see that a good time is in store for me!

 

[tps]

The Hertz NYC rental LEAF is in the news again:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/realestate/posting-charging-stations-await-cars.html?_r=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[tps]

Just noticed an error in Wikipedia: They say that the Hertz NYC LEAF was scheduled to begin rental 12/15/2010, which may have been planned at some point. However, it was not actually available for rent until late March 2011. On 3/21/2011 I made a reservation with Hetrz to rent the LEAF on 4/2/2011. When I arrived, the car had just 220 miles on the odometer. Most of this is detailed in earlier posts of this thread.

This is one of the problems of Wikipedia. The LEAF article cites references to the 12/15/2010 date. From personal correspondence with Marie Crowley at Hertz, I know the LEAF was not available then and the late March is the true date. However, my personal knowledge is considered "original research" and not suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia.

So the disinformation persists...

 

[tps]

I would be both stunned and disappointed if Hertz had Leafs to rent before a whole lot of people here had taken delivery of their cars.

The primary reason to rent a Leaf from Hertz is to take it out on an extended test drive to get some idea if it might be worth purchasing - i.e. a marketing activity. To have that happen while denying actual purchasers of a car would be quite startling.

Prepare to be stunned, disappointed, and startled again... Nissan sent my dealer a demo LEAF, which according to them they must use for test drives for 5K miles (a marketing activity) while denying me (who has an active order since the first hours ordering was open in Tier 4) a car for 3 more weeks. Oh the pain... BTW - I had an active LEAF reservation since 2010 and am becoming a purchaser (or at least a leasee) at the earliest moment Nissan's rollout plans will permit (delivery week of Feb 6, 2012), so you shouldn't feel so bad that I got to drive the Hertz rental LEAF last year. You've probably been enjoying your LEAF for some months now because of the way the rollout worked. Is that any fairer to us geographically challenged folks who've been waiting? My guess is that Nissan will continue supplying LEAFs for marketing activities, even though the LEAF purchases are still very much constrained by supply.

 

[nogajim]

Are Leaf Rentals still available from Hertz, or anyone else, in NYC? Has anyone tried it lately? I know someone who wants to check it out on vacation.
Thanks!