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**Posting on this forum because there doesn’t seem to be an appropriate category elsewhere, and besides I used an Amex offer on this previously, plus my Hertz status was derived from an Amex Plat**
Hertz have got some bonkers cheap rental prices on Polestars.
I hired one in December, combining with the Amex £50 statement credit on £250 spend offer and it worked out at about £21 per day (11 days hire)
Have hired one again next week, and it is working out at £15 per day, for a 10 day hire. I like that I can return it 4 hours late due to 5 star status.
I only needed the car for 2 days, but £151 for 10 days is a no-brainer.Anyone who wants to really squeeze every last drop should consider booking through Uber car rental, as you’ll get back 10% in Uber Credit (which unfortunately expires after 6 months).
For some reason, Hertz aren’t available for me through the Uber app on this specific occasion (They were available last month, but the Amex £50 statement credit was a better deal), however their subsidiary Dollar is, and the price is about £16 per day for the same rental scenario (Presumably £16 Uber statement credit too).By the way, on my previous Polestar hire from Hertz, I received an offer via email that I could return the car with minimum 10% battery for a $25 USD fee. Yes, USD. No idea why. The branch manager didn’t know why either, but he duly charged me about £20 sterling. That alone saved a fair bit as normally you’re expected to return the car with minimum 80% battery (EDIT: I don’t have a home charger, so was using public rapid chargers – Tesla superchargers were around 44p pkwh versus almost 80p pkwh from the likes of Instavolt, hence the $25USD with 10% battery offer was well worthwhile in my circumstances).
Yes, I’ve found this the last few times I’ve rented. They were pricing out at the same level to a category B/C.
My location (Newcastle Airport) doesn’t have any charging on site, so I believe they drive it to a nearby rapid and presumably sit and wait! It tends to be at 80-85% when I pick up. That’s usually fine for me as I tend to be going home, and have a charger at home. But I assume a lot of people are picking up after a flight and want to actually drive somewhere! I would be a bit miffed to get it at 80% in those circumstances. They could really do with some AC chargers for it to sit on while it’s parked.
When I returned it at 96% they were absolutely astonished!
$25 charge for returning nearly empty sounds like a bargain.
A new £50 statement credit for £250 spend at Hertz has appeared again on one of my Amex cards.
17 days hire for approx £12.30 per day (statement credit factored in).
Additional 4 hours on drop-off day, plus free second driver (all due to 5 star gold status thanks to the Amex Plat).For a Polestar 2 = Bonkers.
A new £50 statement credit for £250 spend at Hertz has appeared again on one of my Amex cards.
17 days hire for approx £12.30 per day (statement credit factored in).
Additional 4 hours on drop-off day, plus free second driver (all due to 5 star gold status thanks to the Amex Plat).For a Polestar 2 = Bonkers.
If you could give a hint of the dates and location it would be appreciated – certainly not seeing this from my local LCY !
I just got the polestar from Hertz for 12.50 per day (prior to AMEX offer) from Manchester Airport for 4 days.
Gorgeous car with very very good tech but I drove 160 miles and spent around 1 hour sat in a petrol station doing “super fast” charging over those 4 days to give it back for a like-for-like basis. Worth it for the price but beaware of the charging time!!
A new £50 statement credit for £250 spend at Hertz has appeared again on one of my Amex cards.
17 days hire for approx £12.30 per day (statement credit factored in).
Additional 4 hours on drop-off day, plus free second driver (all due to 5 star gold status thanks to the Amex Plat).For a Polestar 2 = Bonkers.
If you could give a hint of the dates and location it would be appreciated – certainly not seeing this from my local LCY !
I’ve been getting them from airports.
That seems to be the theme so far.I just got the polestar from Hertz for 12.50 per day (prior to AMEX offer) from Manchester Airport for 4 days.
Gorgeous car with very very good tech but I drove 160 miles and spent around 1 hour sat in a petrol station doing “super fast” charging over those 4 days to give it back for a like-for-like basis. Worth it for the price but beaware of the charging time!!
The cost of public rapid charging is alarming. Seeing up to 85p per kwh at Instavolt chargers across the country. Others seem to be around 80p
I used a Tesla supercharger at their place on the north circular in Edmonton a few weeks ago and that was 44p for reasons I don’t quite understand.Otherwise, leaving it overnight on a 3 pin plug helps a fair bit. I don’t have an EV tariff, but even 29p on my standard variable is reasonable compared to what an ICE car would be costing for fuel.
Very happy overall.@Aston100 – you are getting a cracking deal because these Polestars are incredibly unpopular for a variety of rather good reasons. You may have seen recently that Volvo is stopping funding Polestar and trying to sell its shareholding.
A new £50 statement credit for £250 spend at Hertz has appeared again on one of my Amex cards.
17 days hire for approx £12.30 per day (statement credit factored in).
Additional 4 hours on drop-off day, plus free second driver (all due to 5 star gold status thanks to the Amex Plat).For a Polestar 2 = Bonkers.
If you could give a hint of the dates and location it would be appreciated – certainly not seeing this from my local LCY !
I’ve been getting them from airports.
That seems to be the theme so far.Thanks I can see it – unfortunately it seems to ruin the one way pricing between the London Airports (I usually come into LCY and out of LHR)
@Aston100 – you are getting a cracking deal because these Polestars are incredibly unpopular for a variety of rather good reasons. You may have seen recently that Volvo is stopping funding Polestar and trying to sell its shareholding.
Yes I saw an article in the Telegraph.
But that doesn’t explains why a car rental firm is charging so little to hire them out.
My local airport branch manager claims they’ve got over a hundred booked out next week.I don’t agree that Polestars are incredibly unpopular. The Polestar 2 has a pretty good reputation. Clearly they are losing money but it may make more sense for them to be part of Geely rather than Volvo.
@Aston100 – you are getting a cracking deal because these Polestars are incredibly unpopular for a variety of rather good reasons. You may have seen recently that Volvo is stopping funding Polestar and trying to sell its shareholding.
Yes I saw an article in the Telegraph.
But that doesn’t explains why a car rental firm is charging so little to hire them out.
My local airport branch manager claims they’ve got over a hundred booked out next week.I can’t answer with any great degree of certainty, but I know they are getting these cars ludicrously cheaply because they are struggling to sell them normally and lots of people want to try an electric car. My son was going to a wedding in the NW and had booked an ICE car and they kept calling asking him to take a Polestar instead which he declined after discovering the cost of charging and absence of facilities where he was going.
There is a serious issue with the Sensus ‘infotainment’ system (also in some Volvos including XC-40) which crashes regularly, often can’t be reset and it can affect critical systems like brakes, lights, indicators. Lots of frightening reports on forums and NHTSA. The DVSA also has reports but they aren’t published. The cause is apparently unknown so they just reload the software after the car has been towed to the garage, but it tends to recur.
I don’t agree that Polestars are incredibly unpopular. The Polestar 2 has a pretty good reputation
I think it’s a really decent car.
My only complaint is the lack of a rear windscreen wiper, but that might be a ‘me problem’.Thanks for the heads up, I am seeing this pricing at regular branches in cities as well.
@Aston100 – you are getting a cracking deal because these Polestars are incredibly unpopular for a variety of rather good reasons. You may have seen recently that Volvo is stopping funding Polestar and trying to sell its shareholding.
Yes I saw an article in the Telegraph.
But that doesn’t explains why a car rental firm is charging so little to hire them out.
My local airport branch manager claims they’ve got over a hundred booked out next week.I can’t answer with any great degree of certainty, but I know they are getting these cars ludicrously cheaply because they are struggling to sell them normally and lots of people want to try an electric car. My son was going to a wedding in the NW and had booked an ICE car and they kept calling asking him to take a Polestar instead which he declined after discovering the cost of charging and absence of facilities where he was going.
There is a serious issue with the Sensus ‘infotainment’ system (also in some Volvos including XC-40) which crashes regularly, often can’t be reset and it can affect critical systems like brakes, lights, indicators. Lots of frightening reports on forums and NHTSA. The DVSA also has reports but they aren’t published. The cause is apparently unknown so they just reload the software after the car has been towed to the garage, but it tends to recur.
I’ve had a Polestar 2 300kw twin motor for over 2 years and it is a fabulous car, fantastic technology with no issues at all. EVs however are doomed to failure, far too expensive to fast charge and very little incentive to buy or lease one now. The new P4 which looks fab is £70k for equivalent to my P2, no thanks 🙁
@Aston100 – you are getting a cracking deal because these Polestars are incredibly unpopular for a variety of rather good reasons. You may have seen recently that Volvo is stopping funding Polestar and trying to sell its shareholding.
Yes I saw an article in the Telegraph.
But that doesn’t explains why a car rental firm is charging so little to hire them out.
My local airport branch manager claims they’ve got over a hundred booked out next week.I can’t answer with any great degree of certainty, but I know they are getting these cars ludicrously cheaply because they are struggling to sell them normally and lots of people want to try an electric car. My son was going to a wedding in the NW and had booked an ICE car and they kept calling asking him to take a Polestar instead which he declined after discovering the cost of charging and absence of facilities where he was going.
There is a serious issue with the Sensus ‘infotainment’ system (also in some Volvos including XC-40) which crashes regularly, often can’t be reset and it can affect critical systems like brakes, lights, indicators. Lots of frightening reports on forums and NHTSA. The DVSA also has reports but they aren’t published. The cause is apparently unknown so they just reload the software after the car has been towed to the garage, but it tends to recur.
Polestar don’t use a Sensus system, they have Android Automotive which works reliably. Some Volvo models use Sensus, which is a long established and stable Volvo interface and does not control critical systems. Volvo are switching to Android Automotive as it is far more powerful. For example the XC90 until it’s model year refresh was Sensus, it now comes with Android Automotive installed. Other manufacturers are also using Android Automotive and it’s uptake is growing.
For clarity Android Automotive is a built in system (vehicle manufacturer installed) developed by Google, who also offer Android Auto which is an app (Google competition to Apple Car Play) and user selected and doesn’t have the same level of car integration.
@Aston100 – you are getting a cracking deal because these Polestars are incredibly unpopular for a variety of rather good reasons. You may have seen recently that Volvo is stopping funding Polestar and trying to sell its shareholding.
Absolute nonsense, I’ve had a P2 for over two years and it’s a fabulous car and the technology is amazing and it’s been totally unbreakable with OTA upgrades. Charging is an issue with all battery technology and the government has stopped incentivisation too soon – these are far more expensive to buy and to run than petrol or diesel and I won’t get another one for those reasons, or I would be leasing a new Polestar 4 this year. So your comment @JDB is incredibly uninformed.
I don’t see those prices at Edinburgh Hertz though and the range quoted of 250 is more like 150 in freezing conditions.
@JDB I must correct you on several points.
There is a serious issue with the Sensus ‘infotainment’ system (also in some Volvos including XC-40) which crashes regularly, often can’t be reset and it can affect critical systems like brakes, lights, indicators. Lots of frightening reports on forums and NHTSA. The DVSA also has reports but they aren’t published. The cause is apparently unknown so they just reload the software after the car has been towed to the garage, but it tends to recur.’
Polestar don’t use Sensus, they have Android Automotive installed. This is a system developed by Google and is more advanced than Sensus and is being used by a growing number of car manufacturers. It works very well and its voice controls are far better than any vehicle manufacturers.
Sensus is Volvo’s own system and has been in use for some time and is stable, but Volvo are switching to the more advanced Android Automotive. For example the current model XC90 up until it’s refresh last year used Sensus, refreshed face-lift models use Android Automotive. Current model year XC40’s use Android Automotive. Sensus. does not control critical systems, it is a user interface, for the entertainment system, comfort and ventilation systems and sat nav etc.
BTW – Android Auto is different than Android Automotive (confusing naming by Google), it is app based and is user activated as an option. It provides similar functionality to its competitor Apple Car Play to optimise some apps to display in a vehice display.
@QwertyKnowsBest – I know nothing about cars but I have spent much of the last two weeks helping someone with a very serious issue relating to this and have received input from two experts and a great many others. The Polestar 1 and 2023 XC-40s have Sensus.
An infotainment system should of course not have any link to critical systems, but while I can’t yet tell you the connection and/or which is the chicken or the egg, there are multiple reports online (in at least six countries) and ones to regulators – eg US NHTSA, UK DVSA and ROVER in Australia. Drivers report that the central console fails and they can have sudden braking, lights/indicators failing, loss of propulsion, dashboard goes blank or lights up with multiple faults and other strange malfunctions. The ‘infotainment’ system oddly also controls AC, fans etc so if it fails you lose that functionality. It can then drain the battery very quickly so that when the infotainment system crashes (a more frequent occurrence on a simple basis) and it says ‘stop the vehicle’ on the central console and it tells you to reset it, you can then find the car can’t be restarted. Once I started asking questions, I was fairly amazed how much information and how many experiences I was able to collate. The (independent) technicians and recovery drivers behind Volvo Assist are a bit more forthcoming than Volvo themselves.
As there is no known solution to this known problem, the standard answer is to reload the software but as that only addresses the symptom, the original problems frequently recur so there is quite probably some other defect (and not always the same one) that causes the underlying issue.
I had just assumed that Hertz overestimated the demand for EVs, and perhaps underestimated the extra logistics of charging between rentals.
So they’re pricing them to go.
Even as an EV driver myself, I would think twice before arriving at an airport and picking one up at an unknown state of charge to go on a long drive in unfamiliar territory.
Without going into too much detail, most things in modern cars are connected through a CANBUS. Failures in fairly routine areas can have unpredicted consequences elsewhere, with potentially dozens of electronic control units on modern cars tracking a fault can be impossible. If it’s hardware related sometimes rewriting the software will help but not always. I have a friend who bought an MG, whilst driving at night the infotainment rebooted and went to max brightness, he crashed. Fortunately, nobody was hurt and after a fairly extensive battle with MG he was able to reject the car and received a refund.
It is quite fascinating, in the Silicon Valley Zhiguli (Model S), to have both dashboard and centre display crash and reboot while driving on autopilot. Lord knows what happens in the newer ones where there are no mechanical switches and only one display.
@QwertyKnowsBest – I know nothing about cars but I have spent much of the last two weeks helping someone with a very serious issue relating to this and have received input from two experts and a great many others. The Polestar 1 and 2023 XC-40s have Sensus.
An infotainment system should of course not have any link to critical systems, but while I can’t yet tell you the connection and/or which is the chicken or the egg, there are multiple reports online (in at least six countries) and ones to regulators – eg US NHTSA, UK DVSA and ROVER in Australia. Drivers report that the central console fails and they can have sudden braking, lights/indicators failing, loss of propulsion, dashboard goes blank or lights up with multiple faults and other strange malfunctions. The ‘infotainment’ system oddly also controls AC, fans etc so if it fails you lose that functionality. It can then drain the battery very quickly so that when the infotainment system crashes (a more frequent occurrence on a simple basis) and it says ‘stop the vehicle’ on the central console and it tells you to reset it, you can then find the car can’t be restarted. Once I started asking questions, I was fairly amazed how much information and how many experiences I was able to collate. The (independent) technicians and recovery drivers behind Volvo Assist are a bit more forthcoming than Volvo themselves.
As there is no known solution to this known problem, the standard answer is to reload the software but as that only addresses the symptom, the original problems frequently recur so there is quite probably some other defect (and not always the same one) that causes the underlying issue.
By way of context. The Polestar 1 does have Sensus installed and is a limited edition car with only 1,500 produced, all in left hand drive. It sold for circa £140K. Polestar used it as a statement to launch the brand.
The XC40 40 changed from Sensus to Android Automotive in 2023, so yes depending on model year could have either system installed.
Software problems and angry users can be found online with Volvo and many other brands. Tesla perhaps being the most reported example, and of course Tesla have many happy owners. Vauxhall with the Corsa EV which was unstable at launch. As with all software bugs these are ironed out over time with any critical ones addressed quickly. Rebooting (the usual windows turn it off and on again) is the first step of suspected software fault fixing, reinstalling of software less so, but sometimes.
My advice is don’t buy a new model of car at launch, give it 6 months for them to iron out any unexpected major issues. This advice pre dates cars that are that heavily rely on software, the difference now is that software updates apply to all, so early adaptors who may have the inconvenience of issues, will also get them fixed, increasingly with over the air updates so no need for a service appointment.
Thank you @strickers; that’s very interesting and helpful. It accords with the experts and the experience of others who say the software reload regularly has no effect, with the problem recurring whereas in a couple of cases a wiring defect has been found (one in the door and the other behind the dashboard) which did then resolve the issue.
Volvo ‘corporate’ has gone all Fujitsu despite a wealth of evidence that there is an issue known to their dealerships and their technical team. Fortunately, in this instance there wasn’t a crash, but the owner quite understandably doesn’t want to drive the car again.
@JDB I upgraded the infotainment system in my old Audi A4, lots of research before committing to a system that integrated with the original OEM systems. The installation instructions were very explicit on ensuring the battery was disconnected and the ignition was on before disconnecting the CANBUS and connecting the new system between the two connectors.
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