Electric Hire Cars – Will they be coming soon?
The next two or three years promises to be very exciting in terms of the range of all-electric that either are available or that will be coming available.
Most specifications seem to be for a driving range of around 100 miles, a top speed of around 80 – 90mph, a full battery charge of 6 – 8 hours and a “quick charge” (up to about 80%) in 2 –3 hours – although the Renault “Fluence” can be 80% charged in about 20 minutes.
However, Renault seems to have got it organised a little better than most (providing they get the infrastructure in place in time). They plan to offer “battery exchange” at their re-charge depots. You drive in and get an exchange battery in about three minutes. This makes a great deal more sense. They can reach 60mph in about 9 seconds
Many of the cars available are very small and with even less performance (rather like the “Smart” to look at and most are only 2 seat town cars. The Renault, Nissan and Toyota, however, seem to be offering full family saloons with a great deal of styling and other modern technology (not just electric power). The Renault (a very pretty car to be manufactured in Renault’s plant in Turkey) is to be called the “Fluence”.
At the other end of the scale you have the Tesla! This is a true sports car manufactured in the USA. Its performance is quicker than a Ferrari (0-60mph in less than 4 seconds), a range of nearly 300 miles and a top speed of around 130mph! (their figures also suggest the “Tesla” gets, cost-wise, the equivalent of around 190 to the gallon!
The first right hand drive version has just gone on display in London where the car will sell for around £85,000.
The UK Government is offering a grant of £5,000 to early purchasers of all-electric vehicles and, for the first time ever, a sports car (the Tesla) can be totally written off against corporation tax! I think we may see a lot of CEOs with Teslas!
Other benefits in the UK, we believe, are:
- No congestion charges
- No Road Fund Tax
- Free parking in certain inner city locations
- Free re-charging at specially provided locations
The Government has allocated £450 million for infrastructure – starting with London, Milton Keynes and the northeast.
One article we read suggests that Renault is in negotiation with one of the major car hire companies for the “Fluence” to become part of their rental fleet in the near future. This will be an interesting development. When the “Smart” was first introduced to car hire fleets it was not a great success – not enough luggage space and more expensive to hire than a regular “Economy” model! Let’s hope the “Fluence” is better received for all our “green” sakes!
We may not yet be able to hire you an electric car – but we do have great deals on car hire worldwide, all you have to do to get a great price is to click here and choose from many car rental suppliers.