With the western world hurtling into new cars that are more costly, inconvenient, slower to refuel, and prone to burning down carparks and cargo ships, it was only a matter of time before the cracks in the socialist car market started to show.
Around the world tonight headlines are sharing the news that Hertz is selling off 20,000 EVs, one third of their fleet, in order to buy some more fossil fuel cars. That can’t be inspiring news for customers thinking of giving up their gas guzzlers. As Oilprice said: Hertz’s Big Move Into EVs Turned Out To Be A Dud. And as Reuters headlined: Rental giant Hertz dumps EVs, including Teslas, for gas cars.
It was the perfect storm in a bad way. Apparently the customers didn’t want to rent them, and when they did and they scratched them, they cost too much to fix. (Repair costs were twice as high). Then the bottom fell out of the second-hand market, and to recover the depreciation losses, Hertz would have to raise the prices on a product customers already didn’t want. There was no way this was going to work.
The official dry Hertz announcement politely says that customers want fossil fueled cars and EV’s were too expensive to fix:
“..expenses related to collision and damage, primarily associated with EVs, remained high in the quarter”
“The Company expects to reinvest a portion of the proceeds from the sale of EVs into the purchase of internal combustion engine (“ICE”) vehicles to meet customer demand.”
Back in October 2021 it was all champagne and fireworks
Hertz put in an order for 100,000 EVs which was so exciting it pushed Tesla shares up 9% briefly to “a trillion dollar valuation”. (Two years later Tesla is worth 30% less.) At the time, Hertz expected to get the 100,000 cars by the end of 2022. Luckily for them, this didn’t happen. Instead they only got 50,000 by the end of 2022. This worked out to be about 11% of Tesla Hertz’s total fleet. So these EV’s are not even very old. No one can say “the new models are better, because these are new models.
Some of the cars are already on the market. Two year old Telsa Model 3 EV’s are going for $22,000 US.
Hertz will book a $250 million dollar loss, and stocks in both Hertz and Tesla fell on the news.
With uncanny timing the Australian Albanese government is about to launch emissions standards we don’t need to coerce people to buy a product they don’t want, in the hope, they say, of changing the weather.
The insanity would be hard to fathom if EV’s weren’t also the ideal tool for spying, data collection, law enforcement, and political control. Benefits that can launch a thousand political careers…
Rollercoaster photo by Itai Aarons on Unsplash
Tesla image by ben saida from Pixabay
I can just imagine renting an EV in a foreign city, the nightmare of finding a charger, no wonder customers go with the easier option.
670
Precisely. When I went to Austria just before Christmas, if I were offered one I was going to say that in a cold climate the range is poor, I had nowhere to charge them at my rental home and had no knowledge of the charging infrastructure.
When it came to it and I expressed relief to the clerk that I wasn’t offered one he said customers had made clear their rejection of such vehicles and had removed them from all their outlets.
Mind you the conventional car I got was far too clever for its wn good and was constantly warning me of so called safety concerns.
630
I rented a petrol car recently. Made by Great Wall, it was a very nice car to drive, but it was a bit bossy. One of the things it did from time to time was to give the steering wheel a tug. I assumed it was because it thought I was getting too close to the the white line, but now I’m wondering whether it was every time I said something critical of Xi Jinping (I do that quite a lot).
470
A plumber purchased a GWM ute, his mates called him the Great Wally.
80
Maybe not.
A while back I pulled into a local equipment place at the same time as a bloke driving a Great Wall and got to strike up a “How is it ” conversation.
His reply was that it was a Holden Colorado with Mitsubishi running gear.
And a friend of his that contracted in the CQ coal fields had bought one, flogged it unmercifully and now had them as his fleet vehicles.
So he was giving one a try
10
We have plenty of petroleum left so why not use a safe, efficient and clean fuel like petrol or diesel?
EVs are fine for virtue signaling by rich Leftists and local shopping trips and for purchase or hire by wasteful government departments and public serpents on official business (for whom I assume were among the main customers for Hertz EV hire), but most rental car customers just want the cheapest and fastest to refuel car for the job.
580
Was public serpents a Freudian slip or is your computer merely reflecting your feelings?
340
Not a Freudian slip Tony.
To be fair, this is primarily a reference to senior public serpents, not those “just doing their jobs”.
390
Um, So, Like, economics, reality, risk, and such, ring the Reality gong?
Progressives run face first into actual reality, and are somehow surprised.
A few courses should be mandatory in secondary education. Without them, people cannot think in meaningful ways:
Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/457 ,
Philosophy of Ethics (Problems of Moral Philosophy),
Basic Economics
(Sowell, https://archive.org/stream/basiceconomicsfifthedition/Sowell%2C%20Thomas%20Basic%20Economics%205th%20Edition%20%28%202014%2C%20Basic%20Books%2C%209780465056842%29_djvu.txt. )
80
Students get repeated doses of socialist theory. But the realities of market economics not so much. BHO is a prime example. After high school he attended a Jr college in California specializing in…. socialist theory.
I am dismayed that we have politicians in the west talking about 2, 3, and 5, year plans, and central planning programs, just like in Stalinist Russia.
20
My Isuzu MU-X 4WD was purchased new in late 2017 and is now due for the 150,000 km service, travelling cut back since 2020 and the pandemic restrictions. The 3 litre diesel engine complies to Euro-5 Standard.
The exhaust pipe is very clean, a finger wipe results in not much displayed and even overtaking while towing there is no emissions trail.
I do use a Queensland produced particulate filter cleaner additive and an injectors cleaner additive, and make sure to drive and clear the particulate filter when the indicator warns it is full by driving over 80 kmh for several minutes.
120
Your account shows why cars with a DPF that remain within cities and built up areas have a problem with clearing the filter as they rarely go on roads where you can give it a boot.
20
And here, in London, most roads have a 20 mph [=32km/h] limit.
Thanks to our Mr. Khan, the man responsible for more particulates today: –
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/second-london-bus-bursts-flames-31866916
A hybrid this time.
Unclear whether the battery was the cause – but a pretty thorough burn-out.
+ See the second pic at the ‘Mirror’ link.
Auto
00
And shouldn’t Hertz shareholders be asking questions of their woke management about how they so massively misjudged the market and spent all that shareholder money on hire cars that no one wanted?
Get woke, go broke.
550
Would it not have been smart to buy, say 100, and put 10 at each of 10 locations? It would only take 3 to 6 months to learn you had 100 “white elephants”, and then easily dumped them.
But then I have never run a company and I’m not good at virtue signaling, so why listen to me?
450
Hertz leased a lot to Uber drivers who trashed many
10
Sixt, car rental recently did a similar thing and anounced they were stopping EV rentals due to the costs of maintenance, repairs, and devaluation !
00
No different to modern white goods that have a 5-7 year lifespan and if they malfunction during that period it’s more typical just to dispose of them. “Modern manufacturing”.
In the 1950’s manufacturing philosophy was to over-engineer eg a 20 ton truck could carry 30 t and last 40 years. Today the 20t truck voids the warranty if the payload is over 22t and over its service life 60% of its components get changed out.
270
I have an Australian made washing machine purchased in 1992 and still going strong.
I also have a Japanese Sanyo vacuum cleaner purchased the same year also still going strong while I see others with expensive European brands, $1000+ replace theirs regularly (which also come with expensive disposable bags and filters). Those expensive brands are probably made by Chinese slaves.
280
I have a Miele Vacuum and it is the best I have ever had. You can buy cheaper bags online. My previous Sanyo vacuum sucked! Well did not suck that well.
Miele vacuums are made at their Bielefeld plant in Germany, the second largest and second oldest factory of the Miele group’s 11 manufacturing sites in Europe.
Allthough given the high cost of energy in Germany they may be made in China in the future!
80
Most modern producs are of course made down to a price not up to a standard.
My philosophy is to buy the best you can afford, after checking product reviews thoroughly.
Even new cars with say 100km on them are blowing engines and having other major failures (“Just rolled in” channel on youtube) Made by cheap foreign labour like in China and Mexico..
60
We could all go barking mad today and only buy TOXIC UNRELIABLE, dangerous EVs and it wouldn’t make a measurable difference to the temp or climate at all.
That’s the opinion of the Royal Society, the Conversation, using and quoting the best lefty so called scientists from all OECD countries.
They also BELIEVE that we could stop all Human co2 emissions today and there would be ZERO change in co2 levels for THOUSANDS of years.
So are these lefty loonies the craziest donkeys in the history of Science or not?
But will our crazy Labor and Greens WAKE UP soon and leave ICE cars alone and allow Aussies to buy petrol and diesel cars, buses, trucks etc for the rest of the century and beyond? If not why not?
480
But but but – the BBC interviewed a Professor van Dutchman of Brisbane university (?) who solemnly claimed if the world eliminated ‘fossil fuels’, the planet would return to, and I quote, “normal temperatures”.
This year’s catchphrase appears to be: If we simply turn off the gas, the oceans will stop boiling.
Not sure which planet these people live on, but it sure ain’t the one WE all live on.
520
I understand that The Australian Aboriginal Bureau of Meteorology records data does not go back beyond 75,000 years, do you know how far back the New Zealand Maori Bureau of Meteorology goes back Greg?
sarc.
91
Greg
This is a repeat on “Normal” but fits here (IMO)
About 1974 there was a rangelands conference in September in Alice Springs. Which by that time had had exceptional (maybe almost unprecedented?) rainfall for the year.
Some of the participants encountered a ringer in a pub who allowed –
“First normal rainfall since 1923”
30
What did he mean by “normal temperatures “? Return to pre-industrial temperatures as in the Little Ice Age?
20
That would be Professor Hertz Van Rental……
00
There are three things going on:
It’s a false religion.
People who are ambivalent; they don’t think it will affect them, and they don’t care about those whom they think it might affect negatively.
Massive amounts of money and power at stake.
260
Politicians are NOT the”Sharpest tools in the shed”Dave.Nor are”Public Serpents”who supply”Politicians”with BAD ideas.
260
Extending that to “Preserving ecosystems”
You can fool politicians, you can fool public serpents but (though the response is slower) you can’t fool an ecosystem
20
On the news this morning EV sales in Australia are up however over 900.000 ICE vehicles were sold last year. Also on the news a double decker London electric bus just caught fire. Also mentioned were two electric buses that caught fire in their depot last year. If our MSM reported all the news then sales of EVs might be even slower. Do buyers know that resale is negative. I did note that subsidies do play a part plus the already well off are the usual buyers so the tradies and everyday Australians are paying the already rich a double bonus; a subsidy to buy the vehicle and for the roads they drive on.
390
I saw that bus on the 6 o’clock mainstream news tonight. The story did not mention it was an electrical bus. But it’s a London icon going up in flames so it must be shown to the masses as a bit of filler in the bulletin
00
Yes, a London double decker going up in flames is a realisric metaphor for the general state of the UK currently !😱
10
I imagine the same problems apply to the Govt fleet of virtue-sigalling rubbish, but not having to make a profit, the Govt will just plough ahead and spend the extra money maintaining an electric fleet until they have all burned down.
280
I still can’t understand how an ordinary EV buyer could use the car for say 7 years and get any sort of trade in and expect anyone to buy it?
The cost of the new TOXIC battery would be very expensive, plus much higher insurance premiums as well.
Any trips of 100 miles or longer would be very prohibitive and particularly using your AC in very hot or very cold weather.
And of course towing a boat or caravan or trailer would be a very sick joke. AGAIN who would be stupid enough to want to buy these dangerous, EXPENSIVE,TOXIC disasters in the first place?
470
Neville, I am not that smart, but I have thought that since their inception…..I would not like to be a second hand EV Salesman….a traded EV would need a new battery just about wouldn’t it ???
70
I believe that car dealers will look at an EV offered for trade-in valuation and decline from offering.
60
Here is a summary of EV subsidies and rebates in Australia.
A classic case of the poor subsidising the rich, as you would expect from a socialist Labor Government.
230
My Toyota diesel van identifies as an EV – maybe I’ll claim some of that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow…
Our new govt ditched the Richies’ Rebate same day as yours: now if only they’d introduce Road User Charges for the toxic timebombs. Love Hurts 🎶
330
If you want pots of gold, come to Australia where our socialist governments will allow you to harvest great riches courtesy of hard working and tax paying Australians.
A lack of commitment to work or produce is no barrier, in fact it is preferred! (Such people vote Labor.) Everyone can come, except white heterosexual males, of course. No one wants THEM. We even import prospective or actual terrorists. No problem.
No, I didn’t forget a sarc tag.
420
David, you got me all excited with that first paragraph – however, as I’m in that category you call ‘THEM’, guess I’m plum out of luck. Could I claim ‘disaffected minority’ status?
Having contributed to your UN-lucky country’s GDP from 1981-86, and getting out alive, I’m happy to savour the memories… especially my last day of work in Kalgoorlie on 42C, which seems odd as James Hansen hadn’t invented cAGW yet, nor Mannequin his hokey-shtick.
NB. A mining company (Santana?) announced y/day a YUGE find of gold somewhere in them thar mountains down south: the paperwork should be completed by ‘the end of the year’. Uh-oh beware, UN-Greenies ☠️
210
Identifies as Greg?
Is that why the term trans port is used?
30
Here’s a recent EV video from Auto expert John Cadogan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIpipeUI6zw
80
Here is one from the MGUY Australia on an Jaguar EV on fire and the massive response from the local fire brigade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_8mK2wNt2M&t=5s
30
Not even the nasty old style communism in the DDR was able to completely crush market forces.
160
Indeed.
As hard as the socialists try, they will never completely crush the human spirit.
While we still have life (if they don’t kill us like the National Socialists and the Communists) we still have hope.
They might even take all our possessions but they can’t take away what’s in our heads.
190
I can’t find it now but I just saw on Farcebook a video of someone walking through a wrecker yard in the US showing a huge number of Teslas.
These had only minor damage, easily repairable for an ICE vehicle but were insurance write-offs because they were too expensive to repair and no one trusts the battery after even a minor collision.
Also, Tesla disapproves of rebuilt Teslas so even if someone were to repair them after an insurance company “totalled them” (to use the US expression), you would be banned from the Supercharger network, software updates and other services. See the Rich Rebuilds YouTube channel to see what happens to you when you try to rebuild a Tesla.
They were being sold for the salvage value of their batteries. People use the batteries (or modules from them) for off-grid systems. Hopefully the batteries are installed a safe distance from the house.
190
That part might not be a bad thing.
120
Don’t use FB so I can’t help, but it sounds spot on.
People hsve been offered as little as $37 for Tesla scrap.
Tesla’s Texas-built Model Y battery pack has “zero repairability,” because the battery pack is part of the car’s structure and cannot be easily removed or replaced. Tesla’s decision to make battery packs “structural” has allowed it to cut production costs but pushes costs back to consumers and insurers. Without access to Tesla’s battery data, it is difficult for insurers to assess the extent of battery damage and take appropriate action.
Although electric vehicles constitute only a fraction of vehicles on the road, the trend of low-mileage electric vehicles being written off with minor damage is growing. Insurers and industry experts warn that unless carmakers produce more easily repairable battery packs and provide third-party access to battery cell data, already-high insurance premiums will keep rising and more low-mileage electric vehicles will be scrapped after collisions. According to insurance companies, making batteries in smaller sections or modules that are simpler to fix, and opening diagnostics data to third parties to determine battery cell health, would help the problem.
The lack of accessibility and data are resulting in battery packs that could be reused, but instead are thrown away, which reduces the sustainability argument of electric vehicles. Further, the production of EV batteries generates more carbon dioxide than fossil-fuel vehicles, which means that electric vehicles need to be driven for thousands of miles more than their fossil fuel counterparts before they offset the extra emissions. This would be compounded if battery damaged vehicles are prematurely scrapped.
https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/renewable/electric-cars-scrapped-over-minor-battery-damage-driving-up-insurance-costs/
The green utopia is rapidly turning into a global scrapheap nightmare.
120
How many idiots may be out there buying one of these Hertz cars ? 😀
110
Hard to say, but we can safely predict where it shall hertz.
80
Demand doesnt appear to be high as prices have dropped to starting from $20,500US
Some people have a thing against buying ex rentals of any kind. Couple that with the overhang of EV issues and the potential market tends to narrow. Dumping numbers onto the market probably doesn’t support prices either but at this stage they just want them gone.
70
Years ago I read Lee Iacocca’s book on his experiences at the then Chrysler Corporation. Great book and I learnt a lot about basic marketing tactics as well. In the book he described how most car companies were very keen to get their latest models into all the car rental companies. It was a great opportunity for potential buyers of your product to take a test drive. If Hertz is now offloading their Teslas it tells me 2 things- 1) the present market for BPV’s is already saturated and the potential rich buyers of these vehicles are now way fewer 2) People took Teslas for a spin and weren’t that impressed. Either way it indicates that maybe the whole BPV market is probably at capacity.
180
Reality.
Destroying dumb ideas since the Dawn of Time.
No wonder Communists hate it.
170
I’ve just been reading up on the R101 disaster.
After various airship disasters the Public Service decided to build it with stainless steel skeleton, making it stronger but heavier. They also decided to use diesel engines because it would be going to Egypt and India and it was thought that this would reduce flammability, British engines (marine type) were installed making it heavier. They then had to add a further engine which could move it backwards -making it heavier again.
The Minister wanted a set date for the first flight to India and back, and various toadies didn’t let him know about the numerous problems and the flight took off in heavy weather, which the airship hadn’t been trialled in.
It crashed in northern France almost certainly with the weight contributing. 6 burnt survivors out of 54 (+ 2 died very shortly after the crash from burns).
The Inquriy didn’t blame anyone.
Of course lots was learnt and today we don’t have a Minister with no knowledge of the case but a wilful determination to set a date and an outcome, without any bureaucratic opposition, indeed enthusiasm.
120
For more on that find a copy of Neville Schute Norway’s “Slide Rule”. He was on the team that built R100 that didn’t crash.
More in here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevil_Shute
10
Ah yes Albo’s next folly.
30
Plentiful material for Yes Minister / Utopia style comedy. The nonsense writes itself daily really. Sadly I doubt anyone in “the Arts” will be game to point out the folly and waste.
30
What a load of rubbish you guys!! Sales of EVs are booming and we’re all ready for plunder in the land downunder.. Send all the EVS here, we will take them all! Look at the latest report-
“Electric vehicle sales are booming in Australia, rising 161 per cent in 2023 compared with the previous year. A total of 87,217 electric vehicles were sold around the country in the past 12 months, as opposed to 33,140 EVs sold in 2022, according to figures released by the Australian Automobile Association. The growth in the number of electric cars on the roads was accompanied by a rise in internal combustion engine sales, highlighting the need for governments to do more to encourage electric vehicle sales as a key measure to meet their emissions reduction goals.
“It’s great to see more Australians making the choice to switch to cleaner, cheaper-to-run cars,” Bowen said. “More than two-thirds of the EVs on Australia’s roads today have been added under the Albanese government.” The government has effectively committed to removing petrol and diesel cars in time to meet its 2050 deadline for net zero emissions.”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/fuelled-by-tax-cuts-electric-vehicle-sales-surged-in-australia-in-2023-20240111-p5ewkr.html
30
So, EV sales increased by 54,000, …whilst ICE sales increased by 120,000. ?
..and those EV sales dropped off significantly in the 2nd half of 2023 .
EVs are going to have to raise their game if they intend to outrun ICEs
00
Just a reminder what clueless Twiggy thinks of the other fossil fuel bosses.
They are causing many more deaths and they should have their heads stuck up on spikes according to this donkey and hypocrite.
This is a month ago at COP 28 and his “extra humidity deaths” is delusional nonsense. Just look up very humid Singapore and Hongkong and note these WEALTHY countries / cities enjoy very high life expectancy + very high HUMIDITY + HIGH average temperatures.
But I’m sure their / his ABC will be very pleased with this stupid fool. But I don’t think Jo nova would be very impressed. Just look at Twiggy’s video or read it at the link.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-07/andrew-forrest-fossil-fuel-heads-on-spikes-un-cop28-climate/103198354
50
BTW Singapore’s life exp today is 84.1 years and Hong Kong is 85.4 years or very high and about the same as the best wealthy OECD countries.
But in 1950 life expectancy was only 57.4 years for Singapore and 61.5 years for Hong Kong.
But pig ignorant Twiggy couldn’t care less.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=hong+kong+life+expectancy+2023&atb=v344-1&ia=web
50
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. The best way to defeat Marxism, in all its guises is to highlight the failures of the implementation of their ideology!
The lunatic Bowen calling out Dutton to announce where the Liberals stand on Climate change is a typical Labor tactic and from Birdkiller Bowen a typically naive demand!
The coalition doesn’t have to (neither should they) announce a climate policy. Do you remember the Marxists announcing they were going to ‘acquire’ thousands of hectares of productive farmland and national park habitats to run high transmission lines?
Did they announce prior to the last election they were going to float turbines in ocean migration lanes?
Of course not, neither did the propaganda trashmedia machine request specifics, nor even question a press release!
The conservatives in this country have to take the lead from the coupla dozen sovereign nations who expelled the Marxists from controlling their countries.
DON’T keep playing the game they want you to! DON’T keep announcing Labor lite idiocy to appease a leftwing groupthink propaganda machine which will pull you apart just to satisfy 5% of the population who actually produce nothing of value for the country anyway!
DON’T keep ignoring the experienced, smartest minds in this country who are the true role models for future creativity and innovation from a young economy, in favour of junk degree parasites who can’t run an economic revival!
Stay quite Dutton, Joyce, let the failures speak for themselves with facts produced as to the globalist agendas.
Then get in with a clear direction of using our own resources to benefit ALL Australians through to manufacturing again. Our controlled immigration can then increase when we have the jobs for unskilled labour and the accompanying infrastructure to house, feed and move a larger population.
But again, don’t announce it to be picked apart, keep questioning the failures and globalist ambitions, because young people are more likely to choose you as they see stable employment and low borrowing rates!
90
You are wrong on so many levels.
If you are going to criticise, you better have a better plan. Yes they have to fess up.
The RET is a Lib/Nat solution, more poles and wires were always going to be required, because the wind is, where the people aren’t.
Victoria was talking about off shore wind before the national election. Vic was labor then and labor now, nothing has changed.
The media does not question either branch of the duopoly.
Who are these smartest minds, where were they 20 months ago, because the Libs were not listening.
The deindustralisation occurred under Howard and is from the UN, Rio accord 1992, signed by Keatings traitors inc.
How easy you forget the Lib/Nat “failures”, $444 million, Snowy hydro#2. The coal fired Subs when the military requested Nuc’s, the turn around on that for Nuc’s and penalty for breach of contract. The Helicopters, the military requested Blackhawks, Libs brought Them artificial reefs, which are now going to be pushed into a hole at the end of a runaway, and on and on.
The housing crisis has occurred out of 14 days to flatten the curve, it started with the mass immigration and the fly in stay in (FISI) policy from Abbott, (stopped the boats but!) and went to 2000 a day under Slomo. 2020 happened under our federal constitution, all our rights were removed, and we were ordered and beaten around, Medical conscription is written into our constitution and nothing was said, by exactly the same people you want back, never and never again.
Their all as bad and they are all controlled by the Globalists.
How about we elect someone who has had a job, worked to produce something useful, before we hand them the keys to our country.
[Are you typing on a phone MP? Some odd sentences don’t parse, which is a shame. -Jo]
30
You’re both right in my view.
The Libs have a sorry history of trying to outgreen the Marxists – especially under the waste-of-space Turnbull; the man who turned Abbott’s 14 seat majority into a lucky escape of one.
As for the future strategy, I agree that the Libs need to pull their collective heads in, on emission targets, renewable targets and renewables generally.
Let them focus on boofhead Bowen’s fanatical idiocy. The impossibility of 82% and the massive cost to even get halfway there. Tear into the CSIRO’s political analysis with clear, independent analysis of integrity.
Pull the green lefty element in the Liberal Party into line, or better still, expel them. They’re insurgents, saboteurs, who are set on white-anting the Liberal Party. They’re Labor lite activists who are probably subject to the standard Labor political pressure that comes from Labor having the photos of their peccadillos – or their peckers!
Labor politics is dirty politics. Their ends justify their means. Always.
10
AVIS will be next I guess. And who is buying these second hand EVs?
It’s a bit like the Sovereign Debt market. Who is buying all this toxic debt that Guv’ments around the world are selling? The Chinese have more sense. They are selling down their holdings of US Guv’ment debt.
10
If you a silly enough to rent an EV, you have to worry about where you can recharge it.
Normally renting a car requires an agreement to handle the fuel costs when you return it. Typically, this looks like filling up the tank on your own, pre-paying for fuel or paying for the rental car company’s refueling service.
Since EVs don’t use fuel, rental car companies are still figuring out how to handle the process of returning them. Avis says in its terms and conditions for the U.S. and Canada that it will rent EVs with at least 70% battery, and charge a $35 fee if the car is returned at a level below that. However, that fee doubles to $70 if a renter returns the car with a battery charged to 10% or less.
20
Sixt rental already announced a month ago , a similar plan to remove EV from their fleet.
Same reasons too !
10
Ouch !
That Hertz !
😉
50
How low will the price go?
Even at $22,000 people do not want used Teslas.
On Thursday the company had more than 550 Tesla Model 3s and 120 Model Ys listed on its Hertz Car Sales website, with mileage ranging from 10,000 to 100,000.
Some 2021 Model 3s were listed for around $20,000 but on Wednesday prices as low as $17,700 were spotted.
60
With second hand EV sales you don’t get many tyre kickers.
00
In the USA the largest sources used to produce electricity are natural gas (32%), coal (26%), and nuclear (22%).
So fossil fuels still account for 58%.
Taking into account that it requires more energy to make and EV and its batteries than an ICE car – there is little to “Save the Planet” by switching to an EV in the USA.
The most popular “car” in the USA is the Ford F150 Pick-up Truck – now on sale in Australia
In the United States, Ford F-Series deliveries totaled 186,974 units in Q3 2023, an increase of about 16 percent compared to 161,498 units sold in Q3 2022. Of these, Ford F-150 Lightning sales totaled 4,291 units. In the first nine months of the year, F-Series sales increased about 22 percent to 561,110 units.
So EVs accounted for only 2.6% of F150 sales – speaks volumes. Ford was losing around $30,000 on each EV F150 it solld.
40
F-150 trucks are utilitarian work vehicles for contractors, farmers and homeowners with active lifestyles.
They are popular because they are an economical solution to a great many things. Utility, Economy, Function, Reliability, Resale value, and fuel efficiency.
That is why no EV will displace them. Ev’s cannot match the relevant requirements.
60
My builder son works around Sydney and suburbs and says he would not buy a large truck because parking near building sites is a major problem more often than not and parking spaces are too small.
He prefers a 4WD because on building sites it can be boggy and moving trailers in and out can be difficult and especially when loaded.
60
The three top selling “cars” in Australia in 2023 where all utes
🛻 Ford Ranger.
🛻 Toyota HiLux.
🛻 Isuzu D-Max.
50
Way back in BC there was an ad for a bucket for a piece of Cat earthmoving gear like excavator or loader. Among its selling points was that it was –
“The Kim Beasley model – never done a bloody days work in its life”.
And observation seems to suggest that applies to most of the F Truck/Ram/Chev sized models that I see on the road out this way.
20
How Far Can A Ford F-150 Lightning Tow?
While the EPA says the F-150 Lightning Platinum is good for 300 miles, that number is based on a mix of city and highway driving. With only a driver aboard and no trailer in tow, the Platinum achieved a MotorTrend Road-Trip Range of 255 miles.
We had been warned to expect the range to be cut in half when towing, but the effect of towing these travel trailers proved even more significant. With the smallest and lightest trailer, we measured a range of just 115 miles. That figure fell to 100 miles with the middleweight camper and sank to a mere 90 miles with the 7,218-pound Grand Design trailer.
No wonder no one is buying the EV F150
https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/ford-f150-lightning-electric-truck-towing-test/
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In Australia most of the EV fleet are government and private sector company vehicles.
The Turnbull Government in 2016 allocated $300 million for the fleet lease companies to use to encourage EV use by their company fleet operator clients.
I note however that state police trials have not been successful, Queensland Police for example admitted that recharging downtime and range limitations were major reasons for retaining ICEV and Hybrid technology. The Vic Pol Tesla Highway Patrol EV is an orphan and rarely mentioned since road testing commenced about six years ago.
A point usually ignored is that the electricity grid system covers SA, TAS, VIC, NSW/ACT and QLD. And that the vast outback remote areas of Australia depend on diesel fuelled generators for electricity location by location, no grid system.
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Side bar – why is that person wearing a mask on the front of the rollercoaster- bug protection!
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Preparing to descend into that dangerous community fart level?
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Free enterprise, free markets, let consumers pick winners and losers, not governments.
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I doubt Atlas would Shrug at your comment!
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I am waiting to see The Australian made Bushmaster armoured personnel carrier EV.
Perfect for Military Tattoos displays.
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You mean the fireworks part?
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Here’s the latest on the double decker electric bus fire in London today.
It caught fire and blew out the back of the bus but thankfully everyone escaped and the fire fighters eventually brought it under control. A short video is available if you scroll down.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/officials-probe-electric-double-decker-bus-inferno-after-vehicle-exploded-and-burst-into-flames-sparking-rush-hour-chaos-as-dramatic-video-shows-firefighters-battling-to-put-blaze-out/ar-AA1mNwfQ
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Gerald Celente on EVs
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Discussion of the huge effort to put out an EV fire.
Under 6 mins.
https://youtu.be/X_8mK2wNt2M
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“With the western world hurtling into new cars that are more costly, inconvenient, slower to refuel, and prone to burning down carparks and cargo ships …”
Not exactly Jo. It’s only the gullible or religious fanatics who buy into this nonsense. The sensible majority are just munching on their popcorn as they watch this pantomime follow its inevitable course..
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More on the Hertz EV give away
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpqlX7xH-t0
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[…] published JoNova, h/t KN, tony_g, bnice2000, doonman – Customers don’t want EVs: “… […]
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Family plan an EV trip around Australia towing a van!
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/family-hopes-to-use-electric-car-to-tow-pop-up-caravan-around-australia/vi-AA1mVDKw?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=fb4c2897fb564547a2c1e7a9a17952d5&ei=39
Completely nuts of course but I had to admire his dedication and planning as well as the attention to aerodynamics!
I expect that they will make it. They did not say they wanted to do it in record time.
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Of course EVs are ideal for a govt that can’t reliably produce power. If there’s a shortfall, they can order the EV to feed in.
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