Renting an EV (Electric Vehicle) for a European Road Trip

Renting an all-electric car (or EV, electric vehicle) for the first time ever on my recent trip to Italy, I was incredibly steep on the learning curve.

If you follow me on Facebook, you know I am a devotee of the little, sporty Fiat 500 (cheengkway-chento). For a short getaway in Piedmont between guidebook research assignments, my wife and I were looking to rent one again — ideally with an automatic transmission. I was comparing prices when a screaming deal popped up: a Fiat 500e that was automatic, because it was also all-electric, for the same price as a gas-powered car. I figured, why not?

It turns out, there are many answers to that question…mainly because, while I am fully on board with the idea of electric cars, I had never actually driven one. In the end, it worked out fine. But it provided a few moments of drama and an education in the pros and cons of EV road-tripping in Europe. If you already have an EV, none of this will surprise you. (In fact, you’ll richly enjoy the Schadenfreude of an EV newbie making every possible mistake.) But for fellow rank beginners, I hope you can learn from my experience.

I’m not a total fool, so before booking the car, I checked the range on the model I was renting: Approximately 200 kilometers on a full charge. We were picking the car up in Milan, then driving to a B&B near Alba (about 175 km away), where we’d be joyriding and day-tripping for a few days. Our B&B had a charger, so I knew we’d be set once there. The question was: Would we be able to get all the way down there? Preoccupied with booking the many details of my trip, I brushed that concern aside. Eh, whatever. We’ll figure it out.

I may not be a total fool…but I am certainly on the fool spectrum, because I failed to do anywhere near enough homework until we picked up the car. As she handed over the keys, the rental agent offered a grave warning: “You know the range is much lower on the highway…right?” Still in denial, we drove away from Milan and headed for our reserved lunch in beautiful Piedmont, cruising along the expressway at 130 kilometers per hour. But it soon became clear that our vacation was not immune to the laws of science. The “projected range” number on our dashboard began dropping precipitously…very nearly at a rate of two “kilometers to go” wiped out for every kilometer we traveled.

It soon became clear that there was no way we’d make it anywhere near our B&B on a single charge. And even our lunch stop, about midway there, was looking questionable.

This was the first of many stark lessons in driving an EV: The “optimal” range is for in-city driving, which continuously recharges the battery as you brake. On an expressway, however, the vehicle absolutely gobbles your battery. When you think about it, this makes perfect sense: You’re asking a lot of that electric motor to keep those wheels spinning at top speed. But it’s counter-intuitive to someone who’s driven gas-powered cars my entire life, and who’s absorbed the immutable rule that you get better mileage on the highway.

I should add, in hot weather, the battery drains even faster…for the same reason, which I’ve never fully understood, that my phone battery dies quickly on a beach vacation. And on this September day, the outside temperature was an unseasonably warm 90 degrees. (Obviously-in-retrospect, it did not help that we were also blasting the AC.)

We did make it to lunch. Rather than savoring three different delectable risottos, I spent most of that meal frantically researching our predicament on my phone. Searching for top-up options, I was horrified to see that a basic home charger might take as long as 22 hours to fully charge our car. (I briefly imagined scrambling to find a crummy roadside hotel, somewhere near a charging station, instead of the idyllic B&B we’d booked.) My panic subsided as I learned that there are different speeds of chargers. Most common are 22 kWh (kilowatt hours); to fully charge our car on one of those, it could still take a few hours. But when I searched for “fast EV charger,” I found some that were 110 kWh, which — I hoped — could fully charge our car in less than an hour.

Between the second and third courses, I located a fast (110 kWh) charging station about a 20-minute drive from our restaurant, in the direction of our B&B. After we finished eating, we headed out. Let me tell you, that was a harrowing trip. When the battery charge meter crossed below 20%, it began flashing yellow. At 10%, it went red. Soon after, we pulled into the hot asphalt parking lot of a gas station, in a particularly ugly industrial zone — and lo and behold, there was the charging station. (Cue angelic voices and miraculous sunbeams.)

In order to use the charger, I had to first download an app on my phone, then create a profile, and then add a credit card to my account. At that point I was able to active the charger and plug it into my thirsty car. We held our breath until…bingo! The Fiat was charging.

Charging the car from just under 10% to 100% took approximately 45 minutes. We went into the little gas station café and ordered a couple of cappuccinos, while I watched the charging progress on my app. (Another lesson I learned was that the first 80% is much faster than the last 20%. However, we were just far enough from our B&B that we did not want to take any more chances on a less-than-full battery.) Once it hit “full,” we hopped in and drove the rest of the way to our B&B…only about an hour later than we’d hoped.

A long expressway journey was, clearly, entirely the wrong use case for a small EV. But once we were at our destination, we adored our little electric car. Our B&B had two chargers available, and our gracious host, Fausto, let us use them for free.

Fausto was also extremely patient with how green we were — and I mean “green” not in the “environmentally conscious” sense, but in the “clueless beginner in desperate need of education” sense. One night, I plugged in our car, locked it, and went to bed. The next morning Fausto kindly explained that, once the car is locked, the charger cannot be removed. A fellow guest with a plug-in hybrid had to wait for me to unlock the car and free up the charger. While he was charging his car, this jovial German said to us, “You’re very bold for taking a fully electric car on a trip like this. That’s why I have a hybrid. I don’t need that kind of stress.” (Golly, thanks for the tip!)

We spent the next few days joyriding around hill towns, rustic restaurants, and remote wineries. We learned quickly that EVs love hilly terrain — which is as good for your range as expressway driving is bad for it. Anytime we were braking or going downhill — which we did a lot — it recharged our battery (slowly). It became a fun challenge to see how far we could go without our battery level dipping. My wife became an expert in driving to maximize our charge. The “scenic route,” over the hills and above vineyards, is even sweeter when it also tops up your fuel supply.

That said, driving an EV certainly changed the way we planned our time. We became paranoid about running out of charge at an inopportune moment. One day, we felt very risky driving to a city about 50 minutes away. As it turned out, we made it there and back easily — and, thanks to the hilly terrain, had plenty left “in the tank” to extend our drive to a nearby wine village.

There’s an old joke that “FIAT” stands for “Fix it again, Tony.” At one point, when we were scrutinizing our battery percentage while trying to decide if we could risk taking a scenic detour on the way home, we decided that they should change the name to CIAT: Charge it again, Tony.

On the other hand, from a philosophical point of view, it’s a healthy thing to be so aware of the fuel we consume as we travel. Every kilometer you drive burns energy, and takes some sort of toll on the environment. I have never been so keenly aware of this as when I was driving that little car.

Our B&B’s charger made life easy, allowing us to start each day topped up. But when we needed to charge on the road, we were impressed by the extensive EV charger network in this part of Italy. The most abundant ones were accessed through the Be Charge app, which — once set up — was easy to use. However, most of the chargers we found were the slower 22 kWh version (which would take something like 3-4 hours to fully charge our car), with only a few faster 110 kWh ones (which took 45 minutes or less).

Our big challenge was the return trip. My wife had a late-morning flight from Milan’s airport, which was about 175 kilometers (a 90-minute drive) from our B&B — within the Fiat’s theoretical optimal range, but, as we now knew all too well, far below its actual highway range. We plotted out a fast 110 kWh charger about halfway there, which should be just right to make the entire trip with just one recharge. This forced us to get up and take off an hour earlier than we’d have been able to with a gas-powered car. (This doesn’t sound too bad. But when you’re talking about getting up at 5:30 instead of 6:30, that’s a painful adjustment.)

We topped up our battery overnight, took off before dawn, and — just a few minutes after the sun rose above the horizon — pulled off at the fast charger I’d located. It was in the middle of an industrial zone, down a parkway from a giant furniture store, with not a soul in sight — extra-deserted since it was Sunday morning. During the 40 minutes it took us to hit 100%, we sat in the car, having a makeshift breakfast from leftover groceries. And then we were off — making it to the airport, and dropping off the car, in plenty of time.

I should note that our EV experiment was also a money-saver. The base price of the rental was about the same as it would have been for a gas-powered Fiat 500. But the fuel was drastically less. The car came fully charged. Our B&B let us use their charging station for free (though I’m guessing you’d pay at many others). The two times we did use a public charger, it cost about $12 for a rapid charge from 10% or 20% to 100%. And we were able to return it “empty” (just under 20%) with no penalty. So our total cost for fuel on this trip — 660 kilometers, or just over 400 miles — was less than $25. Based on my rough figuring, gas for that same journey would’ve cost well above $100.

In the end, despite a couple of hours of drama that first day — and the early departure the last day — I was glad to have had the experience of renting an EV in Europe. I’d do it again, under the right circumstances. And it got us thinking even more seriously that our next car back home should be an EV.

That said, if you’re considering renting an EV for a European trip, here are the points I’d take carefully into consideration:

• An EV works best for in-city or in-region countryside driving, rather than a big, point-to-point road trip. Unless you enjoy the adventure of finding charging stations, and don’t mind waiting around for the car to charge, don’t attempt using an EV for a long-distance trip…especially on your first time out.
• I’d only rent an EV if I were confident that all of my lodgings had easy, on-site access to a charger — and only if I could pick up the car relatively near where I’m staying. (In retrospect, my biggest mistake was underestimating how challenging that 175-kilometer initial drive would be for my EV’s range.)

• Do some homework to fully understand the model EV that you’re renting. What’s the “optimal” range, and — more important — how is that affected by being on the highway, hot or cold weather, and so on? I had perhaps the “worst-case” scenario: an older-model (late-2010s) Fiat 500e. The optimal range is just over 200 km, but even when charged to 100%, it never showed more than 180 km available — and on a hot day on the expressway, we could barely make it more than 100 km. I understand that this particular car is known for its limited range; in fact, even Fiat’s own newer EVs have better batteries and longer ranges. And, of course, Teslas and other premium EVs are many times better still. (On the other hand, renting a Tesla costs a pretty penny — well beyond my budget.)

• Be very clear on the availability of public charging stations in the areas you’re visiting, should you need them — not only whether there are enough of them, and where they are, but how fast they are. For a relatively speedy, on-the-way top-up, look for a 110 kWh or better charger; the charger at your accommodations can be slower, for overnight charges. Northern Italy impressed us with its widespread availability of charging stations. But, as the saying goes (and this time quite literally), “your mileage may vary”: I imagine there are parts of Europe (and vast swaths of the United States) where you’d simply be out of luck.
• Also be clear on how to access public charging stations. In Italy, most options appeared to be through Be Charge. Their app made it easy to find chargers, know how fast they were, and even see whether they were currently in use. However, you must have the app installed — and decent Internet access on your phone — in order to activate the charger once you’re there.  I was expecting that I’d be able to “tap” a credit card at the terminal when I got there. But — in the case of these chargers, at least — I was surprised to find that payment and use was available only through the app. Of course, in other parts of Europe, other companies may dominate. Do your homework, download the app(s) you need, and set them up before you need them.

With all of those points in mind…happy EV traveling! While it’s a little scary to be so steep on the learning curve, in the end I’m glad to better understand the all-electric car option — especially because, I imagine, EVs will become more and more accessible to travelers in the coming years. And next time, I’ll make smarter use of this exciting technology.