How to rent an Electric Vehicle in Portugal

[@typxxilps]

Sixt is a family owned business - met the old founder ERICH SIXT in the 1990s explaining his growth and marketing plans back when it had been a partner of budegt and had been called Sixt Budget. He was famous for his ads in newspapers that were usually pretty funny. Usually a pretty good point to rent a car for cheap or even to rent it for a long time, not having to sign a lease contract. They are masters for cheap offers cause they had learned to buy just cars that are cheaper and to help the car manufacturers who had a bad launch or messed things up cause he gets those exceptional cheap and exclusive and Sixt would start its own marketing campaign that will promote the car a lot better and increase sales. In germany it is a brand you have to check for their prices first cause usually they are hard to beat. Great explanation of all the big points.

[@wattsonwheelspt2809]

Hi! thank you for the little bit of SIXT history, that was super interesting! We were founded in 2018 by 17 crazy EV enthusiasts/entrepreneurs that realized the future was coming and there was no way for a non-EV owner to have the full EV experience through rental. Watts on Wheels was then born :) Take care!

[@user-zh2cm4ur4n]

Hope to check with you if Sixt is crazy about small scratches and dents. I am going to rent the Zoe at Lisbon airport. This is my first time renting a car in Europe so I am very nervous. I do believe I have a credit card that can cover the collision damage waiver protection. Yet if SIXT is crazy about it, I probably want to avoid the trouble and buy a full waiver at their website.

[@andreiabdulov550]

Could you please share, how was your experience? I'm going to rent Zoe also soon in Faro from sixt

[@user-zh2cm4ur4n]

@@andreiabdulov550 I would avoid EV though. Charging stations are slow in the south.

[@backwoodsbungalow9674]

Hello Marcus, lots of useful information about hiring an EV in Portugal; thanks for sharing your experience. The directors at Sixt could learn from your experience too. Sixt specialises in buying cars from manufacturers on cheap deals. Hence it is not surprising that Sixt did not pay a lot extra for 50kW DC option. However, there is a risk that customers will have a bad experience with 22kW AC charging, particularly when a charge point might actually charge much slower. For a rental car, the customer needs instructions how to see the charging rate and advice to move to a different charge point when the machine is slow. The 22kW charging would be OK for local driving but the 50kW charging is needed for a long trip. Car rental companies need to find a way to inform customers at booking which version is needed. For example, the AC version could be flagged as 'local' or 'urban' and the DC as 'highway' or 'touring'. ☮️

[@wattsonwheelspt2809]

Very true words! Our fleet is not that massive so we get to cherry pick the cars we have and make sure their are a perfect fir for Portuguese EV charger reality. We always do an "EV 101" crash course on every deliver, based on the car and trip plan the client might have shared with us. From regen braking to home charging and car functions (Teslas always feel like spaceships to new people!), we make sure the client starts their trip with us as comfortable as possible. EV world is a great and exciting new one!

[@marcusevjourney566]

Watts on Wheels is a great place to rent an EV in Portugal. I fully recommend them.

[@jasonlowes223]

Marcus where have you been? Get making those videos. You have been missed.

[@marcusevjourney566]

Thank you Jason, I have been busy at work :-)

[@gerbre1]

The Miio App is nice, even has navigation powered by ABRP. It tells me I have to stop at 6 chargers on a route from Lisbon to Madrid with an 28 kWh Ioniq and it shows me how much percentage is needed to reach the next charger. For the 632 km it would take 8h 14m and would cost 77,92€. I'm impressed.

[@marcusevjourney566]

Miio is a fantastic app Gerd. It is a small Portuguese startup.

[@bikesandbeans]

Thanks for the tips! We are driving the car you had in the video! Surprisingly good car and feels perfectly zippy if you leave it in Eco mode.. I switched off Eco and was amazed at it. Not a bad charging experience for us, just was weird Sixt didn't really explain the payment part of doing the charging. Thanks for the video!

[@judebrown4103]

Hi Marcus, is it me or has it been a while? You're lucky finding a short term hire and at a decent rate, I've not had much luck over here 🇬🇧 in my neck of the woods. All good now though, managed to get our own used ev sooner than we hoped. Came on Friday and even after two years of research, using your very helpful videos among others it's still a steep learning curve for this old bird!😅

[@wattsonwheelspt2809]

Hi Jude! We can help in Portugal but yet in the UK! Hope we meet if you decide to visit Portugal! :)

[@judebrown4103]

@@wattsonwheelspt2809 hi guys, I'm afraid we're unlikely to meet as I don't travel abroad these days. However I will be sure to pass on your details to any friends that head your way. It's good work you're doing.👍👏

[@wattsonwheelspt2809]

@@judebrown4103 The important part is to be happy wherever you are :) That'd be great, thanks you so much! 👍👏

[@MarioDallaRiva]

Bravo, Marcus! 👏🏻 Family ok??

[@marcusevjourney566]

Thank you, Mario. My family is great, how are you? Kalina has released a KZbin Piano channel: kzbin.info/door/RaBBZPWJ9Y7a1xs76RtNZA

[@joeyselby8781]

🙂 քʀօʍօֆʍ