Hiring an Electric Vehicle on Holiday – Is It a Good Idea?

Hiring an EV on holiday is a great way to introduce yourself and your family to electric vehicles, but is it a practical choice?

There are many advantages to driving an EV, but can you make the most of them on a short-term rental?

These questions and more are going to be answered in this guide to hiring an electric vehicle on your holiday.

Check Your Charging Options

If you were hiring a petrol- or diesel-powered car you would never wonder for a moment if there will be filling stations in the area.

This is not true with electric vehicles.

Though charging infrastructure has shot up everywhere, including all across Europe, depending on where you are going on holiday you may not have much access to charging stations.

You should investigate your charging options before you take the plunge and hire an EV. It is also worth checking LV Electrix’s notes on charging so you know more about the process before you start your first charge.

With a few charging stations in the area, and some along any routes you are planning on taking, you should not have any problems.

Ideally, your accommodation should have a charging station available.

Overnight charging is the simplest and easiest way to keep an EV topped up.

Many holiday homes and Airbnbs are adding this feature to their property, a sign of how important and prevalent electric vehicles have become, but not all have caught up on the new trend.

Always check your charging options before you hire an EV.

Shop Around for a Deal

Depending on your holiday destination you may have a lot of choices when it comes to car hire, even for EV hire.

The big brand car-hire companies are slowly adding EVs to their fleets, but they can come at an extra cost when compared to their internal combustion engine offerings.

This can be a little frustrating, but understandable. 

Electric vehicles are a little more expensive at the outset than their petrol and diesel-powered cousins, and car hire companies need to recoup that cost somehow.

Do not let added car hire costs put you off though, since the savings you make on fuel will more than make up the difference.

Hiring an EV is much more cost-effective than hiring a traditionally powered car, which is one of the reasons it is becoming more popular.

If you are struggling to find an EV option at your destination, look for independent car rental companies like Turo.

Put simply, this service is like Airbnb for cars.

People put their cars up for rent on the Turo app, and anyone can hire them just like a normal rental car.

Many EV drivers use this as a way to earn a little extra money and evangelise the EV experience to curious renters.

You will often find EVs for rent here, and for a better price than the big rental companies too.

Search for an EV Self-Drive Holiday

Travel agents and holiday companies have noticed the demand for EV rentals. Choosing to hire an electric vehicle for a self-drive holiday is becoming a popular request, and package holidays that include an EV are slowly hitting the market.

This is a great way to introduce yourself and your family to electric vehicles, letting you try one before you buy one.

If you want to take away the extra holiday headache of finding an EV rental and checking for local charging options, why not look for an all-in-one EV package holiday?

This can save you time as well as money and give you the opportunity to get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle.

Be quick though, as spaces are always limited and the dates around the school holidays get snapped up quickly.

Some countries have more EVs and charging infrastructure than others, so if you are serious about taking a self-drive holiday in an electric car rental you may have to adjust your ambitions when it comes to holiday destinations.

The Scandinavian countries have embraced the electric vehicle, so there are lots of options for EV hire and travel there. 

For a warmer option consider Croatia.

This country is trying to boost its tourism trade and is looking at EVs as a way to do it.

EV hire and EV self-drive package holidays are more common there than anywhere else in Europe, but this will soon change as more countries and tour companies begin to see the advantages that electric vehicles have over their internal combustion engine alternatives. 

Hiring an electric vehicle is going to become much more common over the next few years.

Many EU countries are limiting the sales of petrol and diesel-powered cars into 2030, and soon the only car hire choice will be an EV.