Dawn Gilbertson was 40 miles from a sunset at Lake Crescent. Her rented Kia Niro showed 110 miles of range. Then the dashboard told her to charge now or miss her destination. That's range anxiety, and the Journal's Carry On columnist wrote it up for Thursday, Oct. 15. A Walmart charger in Port Angeles and a stranger with an electric Cadillac got her to the lodge.
The money part worked. She paid $370 with taxes and fees for a four-day EV rental from Budget at Sea-Tac. The gas economy car was $430. A regular SUV was $477. Only a pickup truck, at $350, came in cheaper. Over about 500 miles around the Olympic Peninsula, charging cost her $57.19 in total. The Safeway down the road from her first charge was selling unleaded at $5.55 a gallon.
The price was in the waiting
The time part didn't work as well. Her first charge, from 44% to 72%, took about 30 minutes and cost $10.58. Topping up to 100% at the lodge took 4½ hours. In Forks, the range read 108 miles with a long drive to Seattle the next morning. The Tesla chargers at a motel needed an app and an adapter. The app wouldn't download on the motel's Wi-Fi, and her resort had almost none. It finally loaded that night in the resort lobby, by a window. The next morning's 90-minute stop got the car to 93% for $21.88. She says she thought hard about returning the car early.
EVs aren't having a moment. Sales are down sharply, and Hertz has cut back its electric fleet. High gas prices pull the other way. The rental-deals site AutoSlash has seen an 18% rise in EV interest since the war with Iran began in February. Gilbertson says an EV probably wouldn't be her first pick next time, especially with a clock running. She also says the ride was smoother and less stressful than she feared.
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This is a Cash Flow story, M5, and the lesson is the full bill. The rental price is the number on the screen. The real cost adds charging, and then it adds hours. Her trip saved money against the gas car even after $57.19 of charging. It also spent a 4½-hour morning and most of one night. Time has a price too, and only you know yours. The fix is boring and it works. Download the charging apps before you leave home. Check that the hotel's chargers exist, and that the name on the map is the hotel you booked. Know what charge level the rental wants back.
Here's where this touches your own plan. Look at the travel line in your budget for the next trip you've booked, and the car line at home if an EV is on your list. Add charging and a realistic hour count to any EV rental quote before you compare it to the gas car. One check this week. Open the rental confirmation you already have and see whether it names the fuel or charge level it expects back. You don't pack the rain jacket after the clouds open. A plan review is the same idea, done once a year instead of once a storm.