Thinking of renting an Electric Car for your WDW trip, think again!

[kverdon]

We have leased electric cars in the past and thought it would be fun to rent one on this trip. Electric cars normally come with chargers so we figured we could just charge it at the cabin where people charge their golf carts. We were wrong and will never do it again.

1. None of the available electric cars at MCO came with chargers. They had all been removed.

2. Your Electric vehicle will not come fully charged. It will be some random charge. Despite the attendant telling us we were 100% charged, we discovered ours was at 50%.

3. Despite our resort lacked any charging stations, we were informed we could not take our car to another resort to charge.

4. Charging stations at the parks and Disney Springs are limited and in high demand. It took us 3 days to score one.

5. The charging stations on Disney property are low Level 2 stations at 6KW that equated to about 20 miles per hour for our car.

6. You can get faster charging out on international drive but that will cut into your park time.

I’d just pass in the whole idea, we will never do it again.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

As someone who has just recently began renting cars from MCO instead of hired transportation this is great advice and something I will definitely take into consideration. Thanks for relating your experience.

 

[Mikey15]

While paid fast charging is certainly becoming more available in the area,


Hotel charging, especially at Disney properties, remains very limited.

That said, not everyone puts that many miles on a car while in Central Florida, so maybe one fast charge during a trip and one heading back to airport can be tolerable. You’d have to gas up a rental anyway.

 

[reddog21]

We have leased electric cars in the past and thought it would be fun to rent one on this trip. Electric cars normally come with chargers so we figured we could just charge it at the cabin where people charge their golf carts. We were wrong and will never do it again.

1. None of the available electric cars at MCO came with chargers. They had all been removed.

2. Your Electric vehicle will not come fully charged. It will be some random charge. Despite the attendant telling us we were 100% charged, we discovered ours was at 50%.

3. Despite our resort lacked any charging stations, we were informed we could not take our car to another resort to charge.

4. Charging stations at the parks and Disney Springs are limited and in high demand. It took us 3 days to score one.

5. The charging stations on Disney property are low Level 2 stations at 6KW that equated to about 20 miles per hour for our car.

6. You can get faster charging out on international drive but that will cut into your park time.

I’d just pass in the whole idea, we will never do it again.

This sounds like someone didn't do there ev research before renting.

Why would the electric cars come with chargers? There is no need for it to come with one.

There are fast charging stations all around Disneyworld not necessarily inside the bubble but you shouldn't have a problem charging in Orlando. Just drive outside Disney and your going to find one empty.


My advice to anyone renting an EV is to not charge at Disney World or at your resort. People who rent EVs often have zero courtesy, especially at resorts, and will plug in and just leave the car there overnight (as if no one else in the world has an EV except them), or someone looking for a parking spot will just take an EV spot. If you must charge at Disney Springs, go during off-peak hours; don’t expect a charger to be open in the afternoon or at night. If you find one, you're lucky.

Download and set up all the different charging companies' apps prior to arriving to save yourself time when you're there. There are really only a couple. If you rent a Tesla, it should come with the Tesla-to-non-Tesla adapter, so you can charge anywhere. Mine had one, but I’ve heard that isn’t always the case, so you’ll need to discuss that with the rental company. If they don’t have one to give you, then you’ll have to find a Tesla charging station, and there are nearly 30 stations within 5 miles of Disney.

Renting an ev is not the same as renting an ice vehicle you have to do a little reserach and have a plan before picking up your car.

I have rented a couple of times because I got incredible deals and never had a problem charging.

 

[kverdon]

We did do some research before renting which indicated that Alamo Electric cars should come with a charger. They are delivered with them and our Friend’s Alamo electric rental in Hawaii came with one.

What we did not expect was that the vehicle would come partially charged. Driving from the Airport to Winn Dixie and to the Cabins, the Cabins to Epcot Disney Springs and Trader Joe’s and then to the TTC took us from 51% to 33%. A 3 hour charge at the TTC got us back to 51% and that will likely last us to next week. A round trip to AK used about 5% so we will see. We may get lucky and score a charger At Epcot for the day. We will be there early so that would cover it for sure.

 

[Mikey15]

We did do some research before renting which indicated that Alamo Electric cars should come with a charger. They are delivered with them and our Friend’s Alamo electric rental in Hawaii came with one.

What we did not expect was that the vehicle would come partially charged. Driving from the Airport to Winn Dixie and to the Cabins, the Cabins to Epcot Disney Springs and Trader Joe’s and then to the TTC took us from 51% to 33%. A 3 hour charge at the TTC got us back to 51% and that will likely last us to next week. A round trip to AK used about 5% so we will see. We may get lucky and score a charger At Epcot for the day. We will be there early so that would cover it for sure.

Worst case when you get back down to 20% or so you could try the Watermelon (surface) lot at Disney Springs. They appear to have a Chargepoint Level 3 charger (as opposed to the Level 2s at the parks or DS garage).

If you’re in a Tesla there’s a few Superchargers at Wawas off property on 192 and elsewhere.

 

[Ross Kratter]

There’s a Supercharger going into the Celebration Pointe shopping center where the new Publix, Jeff’s Bagel Run, Celebration Brewing, Fatburger, etc. are. It looked almost ready when I was there on Thursday.

 

[AndyandSue]

We have leased electric cars in the past and thought it would be fun to rent one on this trip. Electric cars normally come with chargers so we figured we could just charge it at the cabin where people charge their golf carts. We were wrong and will never do it again.

1. None of the available electric cars at MCO came with chargers. They had all been removed.

2. Your Electric vehicle will not come fully charged. It will be some random charge. Despite the attendant telling us we were 100% charged, we discovered ours was at 50%.

3. Despite our resort lacked any charging stations, we were informed we could not take our car to another resort to charge.

4. Charging stations at the parks and Disney Springs are limited and in high demand. It took us 3 days to score one.

5. The charging stations on Disney property are low Level 2 stations at 6KW that equated to about 20 miles per hour for our car.

6. You can get faster charging out on international drive but that will cut into your park time.

I’d just pass in the whole idea, we will never do it again.

This is a really good post with an excellent tip! We own a hybrid and honestly other than charging it overnight at our house, we always have trouble finding a charging station for it, it's been in the shop 10 times in 2 years, and it hasn't saved us much money, if any. I'm thankful it's a hybrid and not all electric. Our country is not fully ready for all eclectic vehicles, and when the lease is up we are going back to all gas.

 

[reddog21]

This is a really good post with an excellent tip! We own a hybrid and honestly other than charging it overnight at our house, we always have trouble finding a charging station for it, it's been in the shop 10 times in 2 years, and it hasn't saved us much money, if any. I'm thankful it's a hybrid and not all electric. Our country is not fully ready for all eclectic vehicles, and when the lease is up we are going back to all gas.

What we lack is qualified techs who actually know how to diagnose a problem. What they do is throw parts at a problem with the hope they actually fix it.

You never have to use the battery if you don't want to and you get the same exact gas milage so why would you bother charging it outside of your home? Most if not all PHEV are not meant to be fast charged so charging anyplace other than home is a waste of time.

I personally wouldn't hesitate to rent an EV at Disneyworld if there were good deals to be had but those seem to be few and far between lately.

 

[OKW Lover]

There’s a Supercharger going into the Celebration Pointe shopping center where the new Publix, Jeff’s Bagel Run, Celebration Brewing, Fatburger, etc. are. It looked almost ready when I was there on Thursday.

We were in that area on Friday for a Dr appointment and ate at Celebration Brewing. Where abouts is the charger going? I didn't notice it.

 

[Ross Kratter]

We were in that area on Friday for a Dr appointment and ate at Celebration Brewing. Where abouts is the charger going? I didn't notice it.

If I remember correctly, over near Publix. Could be wrong, though.

 

[Mle8308]

We have leased electric cars in the past and thought it would be fun to rent one on this trip. Electric cars normally come with chargers so we figured we could just charge it at the cabin where people charge their golf carts. We were wrong and will never do it again.

1. None of the available electric cars at MCO came with chargers. They had all been removed.

2. Your Electric vehicle will not come fully charged. It will be some random charge. Despite the attendant telling us we were 100% charged, we discovered ours was at 50%.

3. Despite our resort lacked any charging stations, we were informed we could not take our car to another resort to charge.

4. Charging stations at the parks and Disney Springs are limited and in high demand. It took us 3 days to score one.

5. The charging stations on Disney property are low Level 2 stations at 6KW that equated to about 20 miles per hour for our car.

6. You can get faster charging out on international drive but that will cut into your park time.

I’d just pass in the whole idea, we will never do it again.

Agree! There have been quite a few threads here about EV's at WDW. Not a good idea, unless you want to spend time off property to charge the vehicle. And lose out on WDW time. It's absolutely hit or miss (and mostly miss for the majority) on available/open and working charging stations on Disney property. That good deal isn't so great in hindsight. Time is money!

 

[jimmymc]

This sounds like someone didn't do there ev research before renting.

Why would the electric cars come with chargers? There is no need for it to come with one.

All electric cars come with the 120V cable when you buy them. I'm very surprised the company didn't include one, and I think expecting one is totally reasonable.

 

[reddog21]

All electric cars come with the 120V cable when you buy them. I'm very surprised the company didn't include one, and I think expecting one is totally reasonable.

Technically if you charge at any private business using a 120v cable unless given authorization your stealing electricity. I would bet 99.99% of the people you see charging 120v not at home are not asking for permission and just plugging in.

With a 120v charger your getting any where from 2-4 miles per hour so it would take you 5-10 hrs to gain 20 miles not worth it.

 

[Dave006]

All electric cars come with the 120V cable when you buy them. I'm very surprised the company didn't include one, and I think expecting one is totally reasonable.

They are often lost (Stolen) and the different adapters suffer the same fate.

EVs are just not ready for Prime Time in rental fleets. You can tell by the rental locations not even bothering to install Level 2 chargers and make sure that any EV rental leaves with an 80% charge.

Dave

 

[seashoreCM]

Add to your rental checklist: Don't reserve the manager's special or this week's special something like that. You might get to the rental counter and find out it is an electric.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I noticed the 7-11 recently added some near the Celebration Island Publix but it is across street by McDonalds. ( Straight down World Drive to dead end )
( turn right to Publix and left to 7-11 McDonalds )
Do you think that is where you saw it? I shop at that Publix and don’t think I have noticed anything there but I will try to look next trip.

 

[WDW Traveler]

Add to your rental checklist: Don't reserve the manager's special or this week's special something like that. You might get to the rental counter and find out it is an electric.

And be careful at Hertz. We rent from the Gold Canopy. This past January, when we got to the garage to grab our car, every single vehicle in the Gold Row was Electric! We looked at probably 15+ vehicles from sedans to SUV's - All electric. We don't have a clue about electric vehicles so definitely didn't want to take one. We went back to the customer service booth and asked if they had ANTHING that wasn't electric. They ended up getting us a gas vehicle, but I was so surprised that electric was the only option in the Gold row!

 

[Ross Kratter]

I noticed the 7-11 recently added some near the Celebration Island Publix but it is across street by McDonalds. ( Straight down World Drive to dead end )
( turn right to Publix and left to 7-11 McDonalds )
Do you think that is where you saw it? I shop at that Publix and don’t think I have noticed anything there but I will try to look next trip.

No, it was a Supercharger. I don’t remember exactly where, but definitely in the new shopping center.

 

[geargrinder]

All electric cars come with the 120V cable when you buy them. I'm very surprised the company didn't include one, and I think expecting one is totally reasonable.

Not all. Many don't include any, or they are a extra add on.