Renting an EV in Australia – Teslas for $165, MG ZS Electric from $60

It could be the best $60 you ever spend.

These days, we motoring writers are repeatedly asked: “Should I buy an electric car?” and “will one work with my life?”

You don’t have to take our word for it. Why not rent one for a few days – or even 24 hours – and see for yourself? You can sample an MG ZS Electric from about $60 per day or Tesla Model 3s for under $200 per day if you time it right.

If you’re not keen on using startup ‘electric car sharing’ type sites such as Evee – although this may work well for you – more familiar rental names such as Europcar or Sixt have EVs to rent right now, typically from our major airports.

We had a look at which EVs are on offer and where, how much do they cost, how far can you drive them, how do you charge them and do you have to return them with full batteries?

For the rental search we’ve used the test date of Monday February 21st (not during busier school holidays), for 24-hours from 10.00am until 10.00am the following day. But a word of warning, online quotes change daily or even hourly, so our figures may be different (cheaper or more expensive) when you do your search.

SIXT

The new big EV rental player in town.

SIXT is 100% owned by national automobile club NRMA. In late 2021 its operations moved from being a Thrifty franchisee and its former branches will now operate under the SIXT banner.

The move also saw 40 MG ZS Electrics and 25 Tesla Model 3s added to its rental fleets. They’re available from airports at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. In other words, they currently look the best bet for a quick EV try.

At time of writing, a Tesla Model 3 costs $165 for the 24 hours from Melbourne airport. This includes unlimited kilometres, but your insurance liability (in the event of accidental damage to the car or theft) means you have a $4,950 financial responsibility .

An extra $39.60 reduces your financial responsibility to $0 in an accident. Adding an extra driver costs $5.50 per day.

To rent an MG ZS electric SUV on the same day costs $108 for 24 hours from Melbourne – the same as a Toyota Corolla.

Interestingly, we managed to find the electric MG available to rent next week (as I write) for just $71.85 for the 24 hours.

We also tried renting it for six days next week (23rd – 28th January) and it cost a total of $300, or only $60 per day.

If you’re planning an extended Australia Day trip to Melbourne, that’s a pretty cheap way of really getting to appreciate EV ownership over many days. The MG ZS offers a quoted 263km between charges, which should cover most daily journeys.

The Tesla doesn’t attract such cheap rates – the same six days came to a total of $1184 – but your range between charges is closer to 500km.

A Tesla Model 3 costs $218 for the 24 hours from Sydney airport, $212 from Brisbane airport and $178 from Perth.

To rent an MG ZS electric SUV on the same day costs $208 from Sydney airport, $160 from Brisbane. No MG ZS EVs were available from Perth.

You have to return petrol and diesel rental cars full or cop a nasty charge from the rental company. Apparently this is another bonus of renting an EV. You can return it with minimal battery charge and not get stung.

We called the Sixt helpline and asked how much charge a rental EV needed on return. After being on hold for a few minutes – it’s clearly not been a question asked too often – we were told it can be returned with any charge. Ideal.

A big bonus if you rent a Tesla from Sixt is the recharging is free on the Tesla, NRMA or Chargefox networks. If you rent the MG charging is free at NRMA and Chargefox chargers.

Sixt looks to be trying to make the EV rental experience user-friendly. It has a web page answering key questions most people ask about EV driving, range and charging.

Hertz

We know Hertz placed a giant order of Teslas for its global fleet last year, and you can now rent Model 3s in Adelaide and Canberra. But, strangely, nowhere else from our research.

Using our February 21st rental date, 24 hours in Adelaide in a Model 3 costs $191 and Canberra for $257. There’s unlimited kilometres and reducing your massive $5500 damage liability fee to zero costs an extra $50.

We couldn’t find any EVs available at Hertz’s other airport sites, nor the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV that’s supposed to be on Adelaide’s fleet.

Europcar

Last year we reported Europcar had partnered with MG to put 40 EVs on its rental fleet.

Using our February 21st rental date, 24 hours in an MG ZS Electric costs $144 from Melbourne airport or $205 from Sydney airport.

Again you enjoy unlimited kilometres, but reducing the $5500 damage liability fee to zero costs an extra $74. Adding an extra driver is another $7 per day.

Looks like last minute renters also get the best deals. The MG ZS Electric is $110 on January 26th from Melbourne airport, while the six days from January 23rd to 28th costs $453.

The Europcar website isn’t as detailed with its EV user guide, but when we called customer service we were told the car didn’t need to be returned with any set amount of battery charge remaining. They couldn’t answer our question if charging the MG was free on any charge networks.

Conclusion

Using mainstream car rental companies as an alternative to the AGL electric vehicle subscription service looks a cheap and quick way to get your first taste of EV life.

Cheaper prices, more rental sites and the choice of a Tesla Model 3 or MG ZS Electric make Sixt the better looking choice right now.

Despite being a major player, it’s disappointing to see Avis doesn’t seem to have any EVs available for rent in Australia.

Plugging dates and times into online booking sites showed big variances in EV rental prices for the same car, so you could get lucky with very cheap rates. At the moment, these appear to be the last minute bookings.