Hertz is part of the lucky 50?

[Timaz]

Looks like Hertz in manhattan will get several cars from the mysterious 50 from the first shipment! The article indicates they already tested a car there and will have a few more by 12/15. So one for each launch city or maybe two, several go to Hertz, which now leaves the remaining number in the 30's? They are going fast!!!

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2010/12/07/2010-12-07_hertz_challenges_zipcar_in_the_rentbyhour_market_with_electric_hybrid_vehicles.html

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i would find it surprising to hear that a rental car agency outside the initial launch area would be part of the first 50. that makes no sense at all

 

[Timaz]

I thought so too, but where else would the cars come from if they are to be delivered to them by 12/15?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

hmm... ya. i thought i read somewhere that the first 50 were ONLY for the initial 5 states. NY is definitely not one of them.

but then again, i also wondered why the first batch was so small. now i know why. there are others being scattered around to corporate entities. i guess that does answer a question posted on this forum a while back

 

[mitch672]

It's a brilliant marketing move, here's why:

In 2012 the Smyrna, TN plant comes online, capable of producing 150,000 Leafs/year,
They are positioning the Leaf so that the rental car agency's will want to buy them, so they can be seen as "green", and people will be driving them around, so they will have lots of exposure and be seen driving around. Also, anyone will be able to rent one to try for a few hours or a day, to see if it works for them. It's a much lower "hard sale" way of trying out the car, as compared to a test drive at a Nissan dealer

What is forgotten on this forum is, the general public isn't "rushing" out to buy EV's, and it will take several years before that the demand matches the supply available, and Nissan needs a buyer for these 150K cars/year

Also, why would you assume there isn't another ship making a delivery to the east coast? There are probably a lot more than 50 Leafs being delivered, and they need to keep their "ace in the hole" client happy.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

very true. we fail to realize that the general public does not know what a Leaf is. i have told everyone i know that i am getting a Leaf and if it werent for me, they would not have a clue as to what a Leaf is.

shockingly enough, many of the people i talked to were under the impression that tens of thousands of highway capable EV's were already out there running around!! they were just too expensive or too short ranged for them.

so a highly successful word of mouth launch is critical and providing them as rentals is a great way to get that word around. one hour test drives?? that is about what it amounts to.

we are the early adopters. to be quite frank with you. i dont need a test drive. i would have both one just on dimensions alone, sight unseen. but i am a rare breed as are most here. the general public will not feel that way, and for them an extensive test drive will be required.

 

[TomT]

Also, I think it may be a hard sell as a rental car. The EV enthusiasts will rent them, of course, but the average consumer won't understand it and is not going to want to have to deal with it. "Just give me a car I can fill with gas and not worry about." That's why - I predict - the Volt will ultimately be more attractive to rental fleets.

The other potential problem is that "regular" people DO rent Leafs, don't understand them, and then get stranded with a dead battery. Can you imagine the publicity nightmare something like that would generate for Nissan. It is definitely a two edged sword. They are going to have to be careful in vetting renters to preclude this.

It's a brilliant marketing move, here's why:
They are positioning the Leaf so that the rental car agency's will want to buy them, so they can be seen as "green", and people will be driving them around, so they will have lots of exposure and be seen driving around.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

I agree with mogur -- the Leaf is a horrible rental car. Where will the renter go to charge it? They're in a strange non-hometown place, usually with a fixed schedule and obligations. They're juggling travel itineraries, confusing directions, and living out of a suitcase.. an EV is just added complication.

Half the time I rent a car, it's to put much more than 100miles on it. Several stops, a vacation, or a client far from the main/economical airport.

Who would rent an EV?

 

[malloryk]

I'm sure there are a lot of people who will rent it for a day or a couple days to get the feel of driving and owning an EV. People who are interested in EVs but don't know a lot about them and don't feel comfortable reserving one without seeing it or test driving it.

 

[mitch672]

I agree with mogur -- the Leaf is a horrible rental car. Where will the renter go to charge it? They're in a strange non-hometown place, usually with a fixed schedule and obligations. They're juggling travel itineraries, confusing directions, and living out of a suitcase.. an EV is just added complication.

Half the time I rent a car, it's to put much more than 100miles on it. Several stops, a vacation, or a client far from the main/economical airport.

Who would rent an EV?

You did notice it was New York City, didn't you? Most driving their is far less than 100 miles/day, so NYC is an ideal test place for an EV.. where will they charge? how about the 12 J-1772 chargers that hertzs has, or how about any 120V outlet with the L1 EVSE... You couldn't get a better place to test short term EV rentals than NYC, please remember this is for Hertzs service that competes with Zipcar... many people in NYC don't own cars (believe it or not), but need one once in a while for shopping, etc. This is the market they are aiming at, not for general car rentals.

 

[Coffee_Slurry]

Huh. I don't know much about NY lifestyle. The few times I've been there were entirely Taxi-based.
Had to, since there was nowhere to park anyway.

 

[gudy]

It may not be the right car for a vacation, but for a business trip of a day or two I think that it makes a lot of sense.

 

[TRONZ]

Would it be speculation that these are "early" cold weather package cars that need real world customer testing? Hertz would be contractually obligated for confidentiality about how it functions? Any final issues dealt with before those packages go into production. It is not a stretch to imagine that there are waaaay more than 50 cars in the U.S. as of today serving a variety of functions.

 

[evnow]

My sense is that Hertz has got a (few?) pre-production Leaf for testing. I remember some news item from a while back about it.

 

[tps]

I may just have to hop on the train and make a trip up to NYC. Renting a LEAF for a couple hours would be a MUCH better test drive than the "Drive America" tour. Where are the locations in the city where LEAF rentals will be available?

 

[mitch672]

They are ALL over Manhattan, don't know where the Leafs will be yet though.

http://www.connectbyhertz.com/booking/create.aspx

click on "United States", "New York, New York"

 

[kayakscout]

This morning , a coworker reported a stranded white Leaf on Rt 123, near McLean, VA off the George Washington Parkway. I was headed that way and saw it being picked up by a tow truck about 2 hours after the first report. I talked with the tow truck driver and he said this was the second time in two days he had retrieved it. It was out of electricity. It was a Hertz rental!

Here in the DC area, infrastructure is just being installed and the distances outside of DC are in the 20-40 mile range each way in cold weather. Why in the world would Hertz be renting out Leafs before there is adequate infrastructure? I would bet that thousands of drivers saw the stranded, lonely Leaf. Why is Nissan allowing this? It was a huge embarrassment for the Leaf today!