EV charing as a foreigner with a rental

E

evhobbes

New Member
Hi everyone,
can you help me on how to charge a rental EV as a tourist coming from Europe, Germany?
I have rented an EV in Florida, and have emailed the major charing networks on my options and their recommendations, plus tried to check out their web site information, as some did not answer.
Maybe you have additional information and better recommendations for me and others, compared to what answers I got and impressions I found?

Electrify America:
They answered that all their chargers have credit card readers and will accept internation major credit cards. That's cool and will do it for me. Especially, because I will not be able to use their app, as paying through it does require an American credit card, liked to a US zip code.

Tesla:
In case my rental will be a Tesla, I understood that most (or all) rental companies will pass through the payment automatically billed by Teslas chargers, where charing will automatically start. Some rental companies might add some surcharge. Probably there is no other option to that?
In case my rental is a non-Tesla and I find a supercharger station, which allows non-Teslas, I have added a payment option to my Tesla account and will be able to start the charge and pay for it with the app. Both app and payment option can be international, as it looks like.
Tesla has not answered my request, so the above is what I found on the web.

evGo:
They answered that many chargers have credit card readers and will accept international major credit cards. For the rest, I may call a phone number and start the charging with the credit card by phone.
I cannot use the app, since it is no available in my German Google Play Store, but only in the US one. And I cannot even open an account at evGo, as this is only possible on the app.

blink:
They did not answer.
I cannot use the app, since it is no available in my German Google Play Store. And I cannot even open an account at blink, as this is only possible on the app.
Any idea what I can do instead?

chargepoint:
They did not answer.
The app is available in German Google Play Store, so I hope to be able to open an account and set up a payment option and use it for charging. But I did not finish my reading and opening of the account yet.
What are your recommendations for them?

Any other network that you recommend, which I should be prepared for?
I did not spot any other ones for my trip from Miami to the Keys and Naples/Bonita Springs yet on PlugShare etc.
 
I'm on my 3rd (and possibly final) EV and absolutely love 'em. That being said, in your situation I would have rented an ICE car and be done with it. Many DCFCs fail to work for one reason or another and the same with credit card readers. Just not worth the hassle at this point.
 
I would just rent a gas car. As Paul stated, you are setting yourself up for just a bunch of headaches, especially if renting from a rental agency.

The only electric car that I would even consider traveling across America is a Tesla. Even so, if renting from an agency, expect to find the car not charged, missing cables and adapters. So right out of the gate, you have some major headaches.

One of owners of this web site, says rent a gas car. You will have enough problems driving in a different country. Don't add to your stress!
 
If you feel comfortable with an EV, other than cost, rental should be no big deal.

The closest I came were Tesla loaners when my car was in for service. Verify the car has a dual voltage, portable charger with NEMA 5-20 and NEMA 14-50 adapters. Also, check for a road-side, tire kit and their policies.

Happily, the density of L2, J1772 chargers is pretty good but look for motels (some quite affordable) with free chargers. A full charge in 2-3 hours is easy. But motels without chargers will often have an 'unlocked' NEMA 5-20 outdoor on each end of the property which typically add ~4 miles of EV range per hour. Overnight, say 10 hours, that is easily 40 miles for the next day.

If driving a CCS-1 EV, I recommend ChargePoint for fast DC charging as I've found them to be reasonably reliable. There are efforts to find a universal charger App but it is a 'work in progress.'

GOOD LUCK! and WELCOME!

Bob Wilson
Huntsville, AL
 
Thank you guys!
Does not sound good, if you recommend the gas rentals to me... But actually I don't fear the hassle, but look forward to the adventure and feel motivated to make it :)
This is maybe my thrill, while my family enjoys the more tourist like thrills ;)

I am about to set up accounts for Plugshare and chargepoint. Thank your for those tips!
If you have more of those for me, that would be great.

I found Jule EV to work with credit cards, and will look into EVconnect, but they might be accessible via chargepoint, too, right?
FPL Evolution looks good, but has their app in the US Play Store only, again. No sign to offer payment without the app, so far :(
 
Hi everyone,

meanwhile I am in Florida, on the road with a nice Kia Niro EV 2024, and have completed half of my journey nicely with it.

I would say that everyone can be encouraged to rent an EV in the south of Florida and with similar conditions elsewhere. You don't need to recommend renting a gas car instead ;)

Being in a hurry at the car pick up, I only realised a day later on the Florida Keys, that the car does not have a Level 2 charging cable on board. This is what I am used to from Europe, so I feared this might be a setback. But since I have not even seen a single Level 2 charger without an attached cable, so this might be the standard in the US?

And anyway, since blink still is not available for me (and they have not replied), I only used Level 3 chargers until now. Which worked perfectly fine and relaxed. Actually, so far I have run on the Electrify America charger alone on my journey. And have never come below 50% until just yesterday, after a longer itinerary from Homestead along the Tamiami trail (which is almost a charger desert at the moment) to Naples. Charging in Homestead to 79%, I arrived with 33% / 100 miles left in Naples. Also relaxed, no?

And before, starting at the Miami airport, sleeping in Homestead, charging from 80% to 100% (mainly to test the EA charging at a Walmart), driving to the Keys, recharging to 80% in Key West with EA, again with EA to 80% in Key Largo, this was the part that never brought me below 50% before the Homestead EA charging mentioned above.

So even my wife is relaxed about my adventure, as it is a not really one, so far. And I don't think it will be one, since Naples has even more chargers (though EA might let me down here, as they are reported to be unstable or overcrowded here) for my ways around and back to Miami airport via the Alligator Alley interstate.

I have come across some other chargers from EVgo, blink, EV Connect, greenlots and chargepoint. But they either are broken, have a buggy payment process for international visitors or no possibility outside the US Google Play Store to initiate the charging. I can write about the details, if you are interested, but would have used them out of curiosity, to only be more relaxed and reduce the EA usage.

Happy vacational greetings from the South of Florida!
 
Great adventure! Well done.

I had forgotten the European L2 use a passive cable. In North America, L1 and L2 chargers include the controller box and access the power grid and use our NEMA 5-20 (120 VAC) and NEMA 14-50 (240 VAC) outlets. We have other, less frequently used plugs.

Use Plugshare to identify free L2 chargers typically found at Whole Foods, various mini-markets, and car dealers during business hours, 8 AM - 8 PM, Monday-Friday, and half a day on Saturday. Review the Plugshare comments and descriptions. Caution, one Florida dealer thinks their L2 chargers are just for their customers. Others don't care. Asking is always the best practice.

The motel L2 chargers are typically free for guests but the desk clerks are not particularly 'attentive.' Caution, Florida has a lot of expensive towing companies so . . . test the motel L2 charger and pleasantly distract the desk clerk about rates and motel services. Ask if you can leave your EV on the charger while walking to a nearby restaurant for a 'bite to eat?' In an hour, you can easily get 30 free miles. <GRINS>

You've given us a good lesson on how to welcome our European friends. Next time, you are likely to need a Tesla-to-CCS-1 adapter that the rental company should provide. <GRINS>

Bob Wilson
 
I did a Tesla rental recently in Florida and CCS could totally be done
EV Rental On Your Next Vacation, Why You Should
 
Considering potential charging complications, what factors influence your decision to rent an EV versus an ICE car for your travels?
 
Cruiser said:
Considering potential charging complications, what factors influence your decision to rent an EV versus an ICE car for your travels?
Click to expand...
I travel to Europe often and the EV space is more interesting. Charging infrastructure is really good as well. You can get a really nice EV for the same price as an econobox. Also some cities have emission zones. I was just in France via Geneva and rented a BMW iX for 5 days, it was one of the cheapest options

IMG_0920.webp IMG_0947.webp
 
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