Renting a Tesla Model Y for a road trip

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Whether you’re looking to rent a unique car for an upcoming road trip, and particularly if you’re a Tesla fan or future owner looking for their first taste of the Tesla driving experience, renting a Tesla is a great way to do it — and it’s easier than you think.

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I recently rented a Tesla Model Y using an app called Turo for an extended road trip, and here I’ll share my key impressions from the experience with you. On Turo, members called ‘hosts’ put their cars up for rent while they’re not using them. For instance, a friend rents both his Ferrari California and his Porsche 911 out on Turo, allowing him to earn money from his cars when they’d otherwise be parked. It works like Airbnb, but for cars and crossovers, not cottages and condos. People rent different vehicles for different reasons, and Turo makes it easy to track down the specific car you’d like to drive, for the specific trip or destination you’re after.

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Renting a Tesla Model Y for a road trip Back to video

My road trip was a familiar one. Weekly, and for nearly 17 years, I’ve driven a route between Toronto and Sudbury Ontario in hundreds of test vehicles, including numerous electrics, but never a Tesla. In fact, after years reviewing cars, this would be my very first experience driving one for more than a few minutes.

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I’ve long been curious about the network of Tesla ‘Supercharger’ stations that connect Toronto, Ontario to areas further north — hence my excitement to try this road trip in an EV that’s supported by its own exclusive and proprietary charging network. I’m used to the alternative on this trip: a variety of different types of chargers supported by different apps as you head north from the big city.

A 5-day Tesla rental on Turo isn’t cheap — but it is very easy, very convenient, and provides a unique experience for the dollar if you’re interested in taking in your first taste of travel by Tesla, as I was.

Below, I’ll highlight some of my key impressions from the experience, and detail how Turo’s rental process, and the capabilities of both my rented Tesla Model Y and its Supercharger network, made for an unexpectedly seamless and stress-free drive north on electric power.

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Easy Setup, Saving Time

Setting up and retrieving your rental Tesla is a straightforward process.

Initially, you’ll make a Turo account and validate your credentials by providing a photo, a copy of your driver’s license, and the like. With your account created, you can browse vehicles by type and location. I chose a Tesla Model Y, with pickup in downtown Toronto. From initial account setup to a confirmed rental took me about 1 cup of coffee on my patio.

You’ll choose the dates and times of your test drive, agree to the terms of your rental, make payment, and receive instructions from your host on how to retrieve the vehicle on pickup day.

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Everything is set up ahead of time so that on arrival, there’s little do beyond walking up to the car, getting in, and driving off.

Some rentals include the option to add various perks at an extra cost. For my rental, I chose to add unlimited mileage, and unlimited Tesla Supercharging, for an additional $300. Now, I could drive as far as I like, not worry about fuel (charging costs), and I’d save time setting up payment for charging as well, since Supercharging would be billed directly to my host with nothing required on my part.

Arrival and Pickup

On a Monday afternoon, my Tesla Model Y was ready for pickup — in this case, a parking lot near my host’s building. When I arrived, I used the Turo app to remotely check in, document any existing damage to the vehicle before setting off, and then unlock the doors. This is all handled remotely, with no need for any human interaction.

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My host left a key card in the centre console of the car that would be my ‘key’ for the week. You tap this keycard to the door to work the locks, and against the centre console to start the car. From there, drivers enter a 4-digit PIN code (provided by the host) into the car’s central screen to power up.

Then, you’re ready to drive.

Whoops, I didn’t receive my PIN number. No sweat — I just sent a quick message to my host via the app I was already using to unlock the car. The Turo app allows users to monitor important trip information, or connect quickly with their host, if needed. In under 2 minutes, I’d punch in my new pin, watch the Tesla come to life around me, and set off.

Stress-Free EV

In my locale, EV charging infrastructure is growing, but can occasionally be a major pain. Over years of real-life testing, 100 per cent of my EV-related travel stress along this drive route has come from things like Chargepoint fast chargers buried inaccessibly in snowbanks, or an Esso Fast Charge station that was recently out of order for at least 11 days, which caused a major setback in another recent road trip. While solving this charging dilemma, I drove straight past a Tesla Supercharger station, my third in a few hours.

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So while ample EV charging exists along my road trip route, the fastest chargers are rare, and options diminish for non-Tesla owners the further north you travel. Finding a non-Tesla charger can require signing up for, and then searching, various apps—which is time consuming.  If the charger you’re after is broken or out of order, you may need to download one or more apps and make one or more accounts, all just to track down another charger elsewhere.

This can result in unexpected additional stops along your route, and possibly some lengthy ones. So, while I enjoy testing and reporting on the latest EV’s, I usually anticipate a slightly elevated travel ‘stress level’, based on these specific experiences. Of course, your results may vary, depending on where you live and the infrastructure there.

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Anyways, the Superchargers are awesome, and my first charge was a refreshing experience.

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Plot a destination in the Navigation system, and Supercharger stops pre-programmed into your route. The interface makes it easy for drivers to decide which station to stop at, and displays the predicted battery percentage remaining when you arrive. The car even pre-conditions its battery for faster charging as you near the charging station.

When you arrive for a charge, you just park the car, plug it in, and walk away. There’s no need to check into an app, submit payment info, validate your account, or wait for anything to authorize or activate. You plug in and walk off. It’s no more difficult than plugging in your iPhone before bed.

Opting for unlimited charging as I did means the juice is included. Tesla’s Superchargers refill the battery at a spectacular rate of speed — especially when the battery charge level is low. In 10 minutes of charging, I added about 160 kilometres to the battery on various occasions. A total refill from empty takes under an hour, and during the average 30-minute lunch and washroom break, you’ll be able to add hundreds of kilometres.

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All Supercharger stations on my route were located within a few steps of shopping, restaurants and the like. Each station has numerous chargers, reducing the likelihood that you’ll have to wait for a spot, or that a charger malfunction might complicate your trip.

The gist? Making your first EV rental a Tesla helps ensure as seamless and stress-free a charging experience as possible. Like the easy-to-use Turo app, the Tesla Supercharging experience is consistent, efficient, very easy to use, and very fast. Frankly, the BS-free charging experience was my favourite thing about this entire trip.  From renting to charging, it’s a seamless first-time experience.

I was also able to charge my rental with any 120-volt power outlet, or on a Level 2 public charger. In both cases, I’d use a charging cable adapter, which was included with the vehicle.

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The Model Y

The Tesla Model Y is a crossover SUV, and my rental was a Dual-Motor Long-Range model, ready for over 500 kilometres of driving on a full charge at room temperature. This is an ideal Tesla for a road-trip rental, since it has a very comfortable cruising range, delivers generous on-board space for people and gear, and comes with a variety of high-end equipment that helps drivers enjoy a taste of the motoring high-life.

A very generous cargo hold in back features folding seats and a deep storage bin beneath the cargo floor. Under the Model Y’s hood is another small trunk (aka ‘frunk’), which provides additional storage. Seats are comfortable, the stereo system is powerful, and the headlights provide world-class lighting performance if your road trip stretches into the after-dark hours.

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While the car-reviewer side of my brain came away from my rented Model Y wishing for a quieter highway drive, and I found rough-road ride quality to be an issue when driving this crossover over the roughest backroads around.

The throttle response and smoothness are hard to beat, though. Acceleration is blistering when called upon, and both smooth and virtually noiseless, however driven.

If you’ll venture down any trails or backroads on your road trip, ride comfort may disappoint. In my time with my Model Y rental, on-board noise levels and ride comfort on rough roads proved to be a consistent issue, though it’s a smooth operator on the highway.

Pricing

The total cost of my deluxe 5-day rental, including insurance and fees, clocked in around $1,100. This includes a $300 charge for unlimited miles, and charging — which you may or may not need.

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With my rental plan, there was no further fuel bill, which could drive rental costs up another few hundred dollars in a comparable gas-powered SUV.

If you’re planning to rent a car with a low price as the main priority, you’ve got better choices — though Tesla-curious renters primarily concerned with a seamless, convenient and worry-free first time EV road trip will find strong value for the dollar, and a strong taste of the driving experience that so many Tesla owners rave about.

Increasing Popularity

According to Turo , Tesla models are the most popular EVs on the platform, and amongst the most popular makes overall. Currently, over 300 Teslas are listed and available throughout Canada. In B.C., 11 per cent of the vehicles available to rent on Turo are Teslas.

Turo says that they’ve become a destination for Canadians looking to try before they buy. One of the largest barriers to expanded EV adoption is the lack of knowledge Canadians have about driving or owning an electric vehicles. Turo is a tool used by some shoppers to take in an extended pre-purchase experience of the vehicle.