Despite the global move towards Electric Vehicles, for many, questions around what they are and how they drive remain. However, I found out that car rental brand AVIS has the answers.
With domestic travel restrictions easing, I took the family on a weekend away to Auckland. A boutique hotel, fine dining and a little bit of sightseeing were all on the agenda, and to help us get around, an EV rental car.
It’s been a while since I’ve booked a car rental so it was refreshing to find out that AVIS gave me numerous options, including online, an App, walk-in off the street and phone booking, I chose to phone.
The booking process was simple and my EV options were Tesla, Kona and ‘NZ Car of the Year’, the Ioniq 5, which in terms of size and battery range, sounded the most apt. I hung up the call with a booking number and a sense of excitement.
The AVIS office is conveniently placed just a few steps away from the domestic terminal and despite the busy Saturday morning, the queue reduced quickly. Had I been an ‘AVIS Preferred’ customer, it would have been even faster.
The staff were friendly and efficient, seemingly interested in our weekend plans while entering booking number and licence details. The standard car hire questions were asked, like how many drivers and the offer of insurance fee reduction, with a new one being added ‘had I driven an EV before?’ to which my reply was no.
Forms were then signed (on tablets) and the keys were handed over, along with an EV ‘cheat sheet’ card with QR codes linked to ‘how and where to charge your EV’ and ‘basic steps to drive your EV.’
It seemed a little daunting but thankfully AVIS runs a two-stage EV handover. We were escorted to our car with an EV concierge that answered all my questions, from how to switch the vehicle on and select drive, to where to charge, what cables to use and where the plug went in the car. Even whom to call if I ran out of charge (which with 400km range never happened). He was very patient.
As with gas-powered cars, I did have to return the Ioniq with over 77% charge or receive a recharging fee, but as there is a free fast charger by the airport, the 30-min ‘top-up’ charge was done by the time we’d finished our coffees.
The return was just as easy, with a staff member pointing to a parking spot. His quick hand held device zap of the window plate was followed by ‘I’ll take it from here, enjoy your flight’.
Renting the EV from AVIS wasn’t just easy, it removed the mystique that surrounded them. So it’s an EV for us next time, plus I’ll try out the App and up my status to ‘Preferred’.