Hertz to Sell 20k EVs in Shift Back to Gas-Powered Cars

Re:Hertz to Sell 20k EVs in Shift Back to Gas-Powered Cars by culturestate on Friday January 12, 2024 @05:35AM (#38966388)

> EVs are far easier and more convenient than gas cars.

EVs certainly have some advantages, but for most of the world's population "convenience" isn't one of them.

If you live in a house with a garage where you can install a charger and you use your car mostly as a runabout, it's great.

The majority of the western world lives in cities with street parking and fewer chargers than vehicles, though, and in that situation it's far more convenient to spend five minutes at the gas station on your way to the office than it is to find a spot to charge your car for three hours which may or may not be anywhere close to where you actually need to go.

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Re:Hertz to Sell 20k EVs in Shift Back to Gas-Powered Cars by light_hue_1 on Friday January 12, 2024 @05:43AM (#38966453)

If by "majority" you mean, a small minority, then you're spot on!

All you have to do is look at the census. 2/3rds of households have a garage or carport. If you add to this the number of people with private parking, that's like 80+% of people who can have chargers subsidized by the state.

It's always important to look at numbers before you get trapped in your bubble.

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Re:Hertz to Sell 20k EVs in Shift Back to Gas-Powered Cars by ljm on Friday January 12, 2024 @08:35AM (#38967722)

> It's always important to look at numbers before you get trapped in your bubble.

The irony. I didn't realise that the UK (and in fact a large portion of Europe) wasn't part of the western world.

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Re:Hertz to Sell 20k EVs in Shift Back to Gas-Powered Cars by culturestate on Friday January 12, 2024 @05:50AM (#38966505)

> If by "majority" you mean, a small minority, then you're spot on! ... It's always important to look at numbers before you get trapped in your bubble.

Speaking of bubbles, I wrote "majority of the western world," which admittedly surprisingly stretches beyond America.

Two-thirds of households in, say, Berlin absolutely do not have carports, garages, or private parking.

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Re:Hertz to Sell 20k EVs in Shift Back to Gas-Powered Cars by AdamN on Friday January 12, 2024 @06:42AM (#38966960)

Charging infrastructure in Berlin is fine - I had an EV for over a year and charged on the street no problem. The two major caveats are that you really need a card specifically for paying the charging networks (not a credit card which is a major hassle) and road trips are more difficult than they would be with an ICE car.

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Re:Hertz to Sell 20k EVs in Shift Back to Gas-Powered Cars by culturestate on Friday January 12, 2024 @07:31AM (#38967272)

I suppose that depends on your perspective. The nearest charging point to my flat is ~10 minutes on foot, which I wouldn't consider convenient in any way.

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Re:Hertz to Sell 20k EVs in Shift Back to Gas-Powered Cars by AdamN on Friday January 12, 2024 @04:42PM (#38974527)

It's true for me also but I didn't think of it as much of a burden. The car would last for about 2+ weeks between charges with the way I drove it and there was also the option of trying to charge near work which I would drive to sometimes.

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Re:Hertz to Sell 20k EVs in Shift Back to Gas-Powered Cars by Clubber on Friday January 12, 2024 @11:24AM (#38969987)

I have a garage and my car won't fit in it because it's filled with crap.

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Re:Hertz to Sell 20k EVs in Shift Back to Gas-Powered Cars by lotsoweiners on Friday January 12, 2024 @09:59PM (#38976927)

Haha I have a 3 car garage and can barely fit one in. I admit that it is a problem that technology is unlikely to solve.

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