Renting a Hyundai Kona

Paula and I arrived at the Enterprise counter in the Syracuse New York airport just after 11 pm. We’d managed to find flights from our respective homes that converged at about the same time so that we could share a car and Airbnb. The counter offered us an all-electric vehicle. It sounded fun and we went for it.

The Hyundai Kona is a mini-SUV. It looks like an SUV, but only a single suitcase fit in the luggage area at the back of the vehicle. We managed to get our other bags in the car and were grateful to be on the road. The small size wasn’t a problem–we had no plans to drive with other passengers. The agent at the desk said we could exchange it if we changed our minds about the EV.

A couple of days went smoothly, as we were based in Jamesville, close to my mother. I looked into getting some charge added to the vehicle when it became clear that our 250 mile charge wouldn’t cover the entire week. It wasn’t going back and forth to visit mom, but anything else, especially running out to Otisco Lake to see my brother and his family. The timing of our visits was based on being able to spend a few days with mom and also attend my brother’s 70th birthday celebration at the Vesper Hills Golf Club. We were looking forward to it, though every place we wanted to go seemed to be ten or twenty miles away.

I rapidly learned that there are many electric vehicle (EV) charging apps. I started with ChargePoint, then Volta. (I decided not to add Plugshare, that identifies the location of charging stations.) Each charging app wants credit card information. A user gains access to the charger and pays through the app. I’d rather scan my credit card at the point of sale like a gas pump, but that’s not how they do it.

Good news: My mom’s residential complex has a ChargePoint with two cords. If you scan your phone, you can get a free charge, though it didn’t work well. One day we got about 50 miles worth of charge during our stay, but the other two tries gave us less than 10 miles. I may not have scanned my phone properly one day, but there is nothing to indicate whether your swipe works other than the ability to plug in the cable.

By Saturday night, we realized the car really needed charging, and with nothing nearby, we couldn’t leave the car overnight to charge fully. When I looked closely at the location of charging stations in Greater Syracuse, I discovered there were almost none outside the city limits. There are two in Skaneateles (nowhere near us), but other than the free charge, we’d have to drive about ten miles just to get to a charger. I identified a Volta fast charger at a Wegman’s grocery store in the area called Fairfield.

First thing Sunday, I set off to charge up. After driving around the parking lot for a few minutes, I found the charger, delighted that it was available. I got out to scan my phone and discovered that both ports were out of service. They may never have worked, either brand new and not ready, or already broken. No evidence of use. I had to go elsewhere. I had less than 35 miles of charge left, and a day of activities scheduled. I found a ChargePoint six miles away in Solvay, at an otherwise closed auto repair. On the way, I passed several architecturally interesting buildings that I didn’t have time to investigate, though I couldn’t resist a photo of the Ukrainian Catholic Church*.

Once I found the ChargePoint, I practice the drill: exit the car with keys in hand, press the unlock button, open the charger cover, remove cap. Go to charger stand, scan ChargePoint app, unhook cable and connect to car.

I exchanged messages with Paula for a while. She called the airport to see if we could still swap the EV for a gas vehicle. “That’ll take too long!” I snapped. My mistake. After a half hour, I was desperate for coffee having left home thinking I’d be sitting at a Wegman’s food court all morning. I looked up nearby Recess Coffee, unhooked and drove there for coffee. This popular place was so busy that I could get regular brewed coffee only. It was a 20 minute wait for anything with espresso or steamed milk (sigh). The neighborhood was very interesting, a big sign proclaimed I was in Tipperary Hill, and houses were draped with both Irish and Ukrainian flags.

Back at the ChargePoint, I realized that the car charges very slowly. If it takes ten hours for a full charge, I’d need half that to get what I needed. A few sips of coffee and bites of muffin later, I called Paula. “We’re swapping the car.” I could drive back to Jamesville and out to the airport to switch cars faster than I could charge the Kona.

The people at the Enterprise kiosk in the airport parking garage were very helpful, had a car ready for us and we were back on the road in no time. Our new car was the opposite of our Kona. We got a massive Ford Edge, 22.5 mpg, but enough room to put all our luggage and then some in the rear compartment alone. It was an about-face from an EV.

Driving the Kona was fine, charging was not. It’s a bit of a paradox. If you live in an urban area where you can walk or take public transportation, you can charge an EV relatively easily. If you live outside the urban center, you need to have a charger at your residence, whether it’s your own home, a hotel, or a rental. It’s essential to be able to charge your vehicle overnight. I don’t think I am likely to rent an EV again. When I rent a car, it is usually so that I can travel around, out of town, to visit friends in the suburbs, go exploring, to the beach, or some rural location. For now, I can only do that if the place I stay has an EV charger. That’s something of a limitation.

It appears to be true that the US needs a lot more charging infrastructure if we want everyone to switch to EV in the coming years.

*Many thanks to my cousin Theresa Pizzuti for providing the correct identification of this lovely church.