1 yr. ago • 94%

A Mother And Daughter Got Trapped In A Rental Tesla After It Ran Out Of Charge

jalopnik.com A Mother And Daughter Got Trapped In A Rental Tesla After It Ran Out Of Charge

Hertz put a first-time EV driver in a Tesla that was half dead, then tried to hold her financially accountable for getting stranded on the side of the road.

Hertz put a first-time EV driver in a Tesla that was half dead, then tried to hold her financially accountable for getting stranded on the side of the road.

Now that EVs are filling out rental fleets around the U.S., drivers are going through an adjustment period full of hazards and inconveniences. A mother and daughter from Gurnee, Illinois, became trapped inside of a Tesla from Hertz, which the company rented out to them in lieu of an ICE-equipped sedan the woman had reserved in advance. After the dead Tesla stranded them, Hertz tried to put the woman on a do-not-rent list, despite being responsible for much of the trouble, as the woman tells CBS News.

When Becky Liebau and her daughter arrived to the Hertz counter, they were told the only car left on the rental lot was a Tesla. Liebau had never driven an EV; she had booked a reservation for a gas-powered car, but rental companies are notorious for taking reservations though not holding onto them. According to Liebau, this was around closing time and she had no other choice but to take the Tesla, which appears to have been a Model 3 based on the CBS report:

Disaster ensued for the mother and daughter, who had booked the trip to scope out prospective colleges for the 16-year old scholar. We could easily say this was due to driver error, but it’s not that simple. User error figures into the problems that left the woman and teenager stranded, but the onus rests on Hertz now that it’s bolstered its rental fleet with over 50,000 EVs. Especially when dealing with first-time EV drivers like Liebau.

And it’s not like it was for lack of trying on the part of the mother and daughter. Liebau says her daughter tried getting up to speed on the Tesla EV, going on the internet to learn how to to operate the fully-electric car.

Hertz had given the pair an EV that was reportedly under 50 percent state of charge. The Tesla showed approximately 90 miles of range left, which may have been enough to get Liebau and her daughter to a charger. Hertz, however, did not provide them with an adapter to use charging stations that don’t conform to Tesla’s charging standard. Hertz later suggested these adapters are often targeted by thieves. It’s hard to see why that matters, or why Hertz would mention this — other than to suggest it was acting in its own best interest.

The Tesla’s tires were also low on air and would have benefitted from a top up. What Hertz basically did was hand Liebau the keys to a less than half-charged EV with low tire pressure and a missing adapter for use at nearby chargers. The Tesla went dead as Liebau searched for a charging station, trapping the two inside the cabin. Liebau and her daughter had no idea how to get out of the dead EV, and their phones were running out of battery, too. Again, that’s user error, but no one at Hertz explained the proper procedures to Liebau.

No roadside assistance came from Hertz. The two were eventually towed by a driver they had tracked down on their own, who taught them to override the electric door locks. They were taken to a hotel nearby, and had to pay one of the maintenance workers there for a ride across the state.

Presumably, back to their home. A hefty bill was waiting for them, as Hertz tried to pin the blame on Liebau. She refused to pay the invoices, and the company put her on a do-not-rent list. Hertz only happened to reverse course after CBS investigators reached out to the company. CBS says that Hertz has now refunded all charges and has reimbursed Liebau for the expenses she incurred.

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139 comments

Hertz shouldn’t have gone with Tesla for EV’s. People not driving EV’s and are renting want something as similar to their current car as possible. Both my leaf, and my current Kia Niro operate mostly like an ICE. The torque is different. The acceleration is different. But the biggest difference is the shifter and that is still simple enough that you could figure it out in about 30 seconds. Other than that it’s a normal car. Anyone can get in and drive it. They don’t need to worry about figuring out the touch screen crap or how to turn on windshield wipers like a lot of people need to figure out with Teslas. Tesla’s used to be the pinnacle of EV’s but now they’re cheaply made, over teched out garbage.

107
Rental companies should try putting some stickers inside the vehicle which indicate where the manual door release is. It wouldn’t cost much and would at least save people unfamiliar with Teslas from getting trapped like this.

89
Hertz is a horrible company. If you have any other option, use it. If you have no other option, just walk into traffic. It's less painful than dealing with their scams.

51
So I'm expected to drop off a car with a full tank after hiring, and I expect it to be full when I pick it up.

Is that not the same for EV's when you hire?

45
That also sounds like a serious safety problem if you cant get out when the battery dies

39
I got stranded in a rental moving truck because they gave it to me with a low tire that turned out to be damaged. I'm still not sure if I handled it right, but I ended up denying the charges for an extra day since it was 100% their fault (still waiting to see if my bank agrees...). Nice to see these people were refunded, but still they were put on the blacklist. Fuck these companies.

33
A few months ago I made a reservation to rent a car with hertz. When I showed up, the only available car was a mostly dead EV. I'm glad I did a little research before agreeing to it because I would have had to go way out of my way to charge it, and the charging process would have taken HOURS to achieve the charge I needed for my trip.

I'm pro-EV in general but rental companies shouldn't be offering them in their current state imo

30
I don’t own an EV, so I don’t know how all this works. But I find this behaviour very weird. The amount of energy needed to move a car is gigantic compared to, well, everything else inside the car. Even without power to move the vehicle, there should be enough charge to open the doors, operate the computer and so on.

When my phone shuts down from lack of power, if I immediately put it in the charge, it will light up the screen to show the battery symbol. So, even if there’s not enough juice to power all the components of the phone, there’s still some charge to turn the screen on to show the battery status. Only if I don’t charge it for a long time is that the screen will take time to start showing me the battery symbol.

28
Hertz is a dumpster fire of a company. I always rent from Enterprise. They cost more but I've never had an issue with them or their cars.

20
Headline should be : Hertz rending Teslas now, definitely not a terrible idea and average Americans not good at pulling levers that aren't incredibly obvious

14
Well - hertz just lost all my future business.

14
This reminds me of that Seinfeld episode about car reservations.

13
Good video on how to open the doors. The read doors seem real tough. youtube

8
They are lucky it wasn't 35 degrees outside. They would be dead.

7
We need more EV charging infrastructure and Hertz should have provided better guidance about charging since the car was already somewhat low.

5
And people really thought Elon Musk was the future

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This is the second article I've read about someone getting trapped in a Tesla. It's a shame that a lot of people will opt to blame the user when this is obviously a stupid design decision by Tesla.

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okay but like the manual override is literally under the windows switches on the door

1
The woman agreed to operate a 2000lbs+ machine w/o doing her due diligence. I'm sure the paperwork she signed stated that she was capable of operating such a machine, which means she lied. Hertz may be a crappy company, but this woman is irresponsible.

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