Rental Car Tips

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When renting a car, don't assume that the vehicle you reserved will have the transmission or features you expect. If you need an automatic, confirm that your rental is actually an automatic before you leave the rental counter. This is especially important in Europe, where manual-transmission vehicles are still common.

It's also a good idea to ask what type of vehicle you will be receiving, particularly when it comes to electric vehicles (EVs). Rental companies are adding more EVs to their fleets, and you may occasionally be offered, or even assigned, an EV when you weren't specifically looking for one.

This happened to me in Seattle. I hadn't requested an EV, but I was given a Tesla. At the time, I had never driven a Tesla and didn't know the first thing about operating one or where I would be able to charge it. I was in Seattle for several days of meetings and would be driving around quite a bit, so I didn't have the time or the inclination to spend my trip figuring out how to operate an unfamiliar vehicle.

When I asked the rental agent for another car, I was essentially told to "get with the times." While I didn't appreciate the way it was said, he explained that his company would eventually transition to an all-EV fleet and that other rental companies would do the same. After some back-and-forth, the rental company gave me another vehicle.

The experience taught me an important lesson: don't assume the rental company will give you exactly what you expected or that you'll be comfortable with whatever they hand you the keys to.

If you're planning to rent a car, I recommend learning the basics of driving and charging an EV before your trip if possible, particularly if you're traveling somewhere unfamiliar. Take some time to understand how the vehicle starts, accelerates, brakes, charges, and displays its battery range. Different EVs can operate quite differently from one another, and some have features and controls that may be unfamiliar if you've never driven one before.

If you do receive an EV at the rental counter, don't wait until you're on the road to figure it out. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the vehicle's basic controls before you drive away. Make sure you know how to start and stop the vehicle, select the appropriate driving mode, locate the charging port, and understand the basics of finding and using a charging station.

Take photos of the rental even if there are no issues especially of the license plate in case you need the information later for a parking meter or app. 

If there are issues, make sure to take several photos and let an employee know to make a note of it so you don’t get charged for it.

Utilize a USB or C data blocker if you need to use your phone in the car. You do not want to sync your phone (i.e. your personal information) to the rental! This information becomes saved to the rental unless you manually delete it beforehand. However, even if you take the step to manually delete the information from the rental, your personal information is not automatically deleted from the infotainment system. 

You don't want to be distracted looking down at your phone while you are driving, especially in unfamiliar areas. Bringing a cell phone holder that is small, light and easy to use will help you mitigate this risk and focus on the roads. 

Pack extra tourist, city, and country maps and leave them in the car. You never know when you might need them! You can't always rely on GPS and cell phone coverage. 

I was traveling with someone who assumed our rental car was diesel (as most cars were in that area at the time) but it was petrol. The car almost immediately choked and we quickly realized the mistake but it was late on a Friday night in a remote village and the garage was closed on the weekends. We had to wait until Monday to fix the issue so we unexpectedly spent the weekend in this village. We made the best of it but I now always check!

Nowadays with EVs and hybrids, it's better to become familiar with all types of cars and if possible, practice driving and fueling them in advance so you will be more comfortable when you are running around in foreign or unfamiliar places. 

How to Drive an EV: What Rental Car Drivers Need to Know.