“The charger’s operation was difficult to understand, and we were outside in driving rain,” said Moore. “One side of the chargers didn’t work, and when we tried the other port we had to reset it. It caused us serious trauma.”

Their first charging stop was at a 240-volt, alternating-current Blink charger where they plugged in for two hours and only gained 10% of charge. At the end of the weekend, they found a direct-current fast charger on their way back into Manhattan so they could recharge the car to 75% as required by Hertz’s return policy.

“The charger’s operation was difficult to understand, and we were outside in driving rain,” said Moore. “One side of the chargers didn’t work, and when we tried the other port we had to reset it. It caused us serious trauma.”

They took another weekend trip to Hawley, Pennsylvania, in September, and once again Hertz only had battery power on offer. This time they got a Tesla Model 3 and its accompanying charging network, which made for less range anxiety. “The Tesla worked better but it still takes hours out your life,” said Moore.

In addition to owning Model 3s, I have also rented Teslas from Hertz while traveling on my own. But when it came to renting for Mrs. Payne and me on a Florida getaway, I walked past rows of EVs that included 250-mile plus range Teslas, Ford Mustang Mach-Es, Kia EV6s and Volkswagen ID.4s for a gas-powered Chevy Malibu in Hertz’s President’s Club lot at Ft. Myers airport. Attendants told me EVs are rarely chosen by customers.

In addition to local Naples travel, our packed five days in Florida included trips to Sarasota and Miami. I didn’t want to have to calculate where we’d charge (we would ultimately cover 510 miles) or check with the hotel if they had a charger for overnight (they didn’t), or make one last, long stop on the way to the airport to fill up.

On my way to Miami in the Malibu, for example, I pumped in 328 miles of fuel (from 118 miles to a full 446) in one minute. A Kia EV6, one of the industry’s fastest-charging vehicles with an 800-volt platform, claims it can add 210 miles in 18 minutes on a 350 kW charger.

Mickey Citerala, 36, of Boulder, Colorado, had a memorable adventure when he rented a 232-mile range Kia EV6 at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers for a family Christmas in Naples.

The zippy, roomy SUV fit his family of five — including three kids 8, 5 and 2 years old — nicely, including luggage, but finding charging in Naples was a challenge. An Electrify America DC fast charger wasn’t working properly, so he had to settle for a 240-volt AC charger at Target, which took 13 hours to charge overnight and required Citerala to Uber back and forth from his in-laws' apartment.

He eventually discovered a more convenient charger three miles away at a Cadillac dealership. An avid runner, he planned his charging around a jog to the beach and back. He would put 800 miles on the Kia during his visit, including daily travel, roundtrips to the airport, and the big test: a 400-mile family trip across state to Orlando to visit amusement parks.

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