Rental agencies providing EVs with HOV stickers

This is more of a question than a news item, but I feel like it would be very useful to someone people to have this information (and not just me).

I’m hoping to put together a list of car rental locations that rent out EVs and also whether those EVs come with HOV stickers for locations in California.

Edit: updating post with new info

–A bunch of Enterprise locations in the SF Bay Area used to rent out Leafs but apparently have stopped doing so (due to charging issues…)
–Hertz locations in the Bay Area will rent out a 2011 Smart ED for you without a problem (though expect a lead time of a couple of days to a week) and these cars do have the white carpool stickers. You can find which locations will rent the car for you at Where is this vehicle offered? Keep in mind: the car has a limited range, a 62 mph top speed, and a 0-60 time of 25 seconds. It's basically unusable outside of city driving. I was able to get the 10th St Hertz location to be ready to rent this car to me for $1k/month including all taxes and fees…but I didn't take it when I realized that they were renting out the 2011, rather than 2013, model.
–The Hertz SFO location also has Tesla Signature Roadster. Expect to pay $250+/day including all taxes and fees. I could not talk these guys down to a lower price. This despite the fact that I KNEW that the car was standing parked right outside their office for over 20 of the past 30 days.
–Your local Toyota dealer participating in Toyota's Toyota Rent a Car program is probably your best bet. I got a 2012 Prius Plug-in with green carpool stickers at 101 Toyota in Redwood City. They also have the RAV4 EV available for rent ($450/week – remember this is basically a cheap Model S).
–Those who want a Leaf are probably best served by renting through a peer to peer car rental service, such as Getaround or RelayRides.

 

well this sure got a ton of traction

 

So here's the situation in SF:
–A number of Hertz locations will be able to rent out Smart EVs for you. none of them actually have these cars on their lots; they have to book them from the Hertz fleet office in South SF. You can find the locations by putting in San Francisco, CA on this page: Where is this vehicle offered?
–The Smarts have carpool lane stickers on them but are the 2011 MY vehicles with the 2nd generation ED power train. What does that mean? Well, the electric motor has only 20 kW (with 30 kW burst output), the top speed is limited to 62 mph, there's a 16.5 kWh battery pack which takes 8 hours to charge from 220V, and the 0-to-60 time is a graceful 26.7 seconds (no, that's not a typo).
–Hertz SFO has a Tesla roadster available for rent with carpool stickers as well. This car is actually in the garage. The price? A cool $8k/month including all taxes and fees, or $267/day.

Needless to say, neither of these options really worked for me. I needed a commuter vehicle that would take me from a train station to work and back 4 days a week, with a daily mileage about 30-40 miles (so 120-160 miles/week). Neither of these fit the bill, since I need to do highway driving and my hourly rate isn't high enough to justify a vehicle costing over $250/day.

There are a number of carsharing and peer-to-peer car rental sites. Very few options fit the bill, and understandably not many people are able to rent out their own car for a month or longer.

 

For reviews of the ED, both previous and current gen, I looked at Autoblog (this was also how I knew immediately that I couldn't take the 2011 car when they showed it to me): 2013 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive First Drive and First Drive: 2011 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive makes a lot of sense for a few people
My budget is $3k for 3 months. That's the amount of time I need it for.

The lease is somewhat deceptively priced, because it requires a $2k downpayment and does NOT include tax in that price. So over the three years it comes out to ~$9200 before taxes, or $10k total. You can claim the CVRP credit of $2500 if you keep the car for all three years (which would be doubtful) – so that brings that net total to $7500. If we take out the "$3k total" I'm willing to pay, that's $4500 over 33 months. Wonder if I'd be able to rent the car out on the remaining 33 months of the lease to cover that? That's $135/mo…do not know.

I wonder if buying would make more sense. KBB reports that a 2012 Leaf can be sold for ~$23k. This car retailed for $36k. That's a loss of $13k or 36%. A 30% loss on the $28k S corresponds to a $20,600 selling price…while the cost for a purchased Leaf including tax, minus IRS, would be ~$23k. So that fits in nicely with my goals…but doesn't include insurance or the hassle of selling the car. Since CVRP requires you to keep the car for 3 years, I'm not really including it in the calculation.

There's a local Toyota dealer who's offering to rent out a PiP for $3k including taxes. This seems tempting but I feel bummed about missing out on the all-EV experience.

 

you mean deal to sell? lease? rent?

 

that was the cheaper trim, private party sale price.

like I said, charging won't be a problem. I would be driving 30-40 miles/day, 4 days a week, and there's plenty of chargers to use at work. that would be only until May…after that, presumably I'd drive even less. but then there's the cost of insurance and the headache of selling the damn thing…

That was actually my original idea! Unfortunately, the lowest I could get for the Rav was $450/week, which is just way too much.

But $20k is insanely high given that I can buy a new S for less.

exactly.

btw, I called a local Nissan dealer, and they said that they don't know of any dealers who rent out cars. Seems odd, since Toyota does it. Also called up a bunch of Enterprise locations, who used to rent out Leafs, but apparently have stopped doing so (due to charging issues…seriously??).

 

sure, but the point is that i don't need any of those things to drive 15 miles each way 4 days a week for 3 months

EDIT: in case you're wondering…I'm driving from Great America (Tasman/Lafayette in Santa Clara) to De Anza & 280 in Cupertino.

 

Actually, I've already worked for 2 weeks!

It doesn't look like there's much activity there…bottom of the page is already showing December of last year. Looks like I'm picking up my plug-in in redwood city tomorrow

 

So, an update
–as mentioned earlier, Enterprise no longer rents out Leafs (or any other EV)
–Toyota 101 in redwood city rented out a pip to me for $800/mo + tax w/200 miles/day (great, I'll be driving less than that per week lol)
–those who want a Leaf are probably best served by renting through a peer to peer car rental service, such as Getaround or RelayRides. In fact, I had someone who was willing to rent through the second site. However, she's in Sonoma, which would take me 4 hours to get to just to pick up the car and bring it back to my house. But I'm considering doing the rental with her for month #2.
One thing is clear: I always think up new ways to make my life exciting. Lol.

 

updated original post with a combination of all the info in one place