Renting a Tesla Model Y from Avis: What I Wish I Knew First
Quick Tips if You’re Renting a Tesla from Avis
Here’s what I wish I’d known before leaving the lot:
Ask for a J1772 adapter at the counter. You’ll need this to use any non-Tesla (Level 2) chargers since Teslas have a different plug than most EVs.
Keep the key card handy. You can’t use the Tesla app with a rental.
Give yourself ten minutes to get used to one-pedal driving.
Superchargers work automatically. Avis bills you afterward with a 2.3% convenience fee.
No Full Self Driving on rentals, but Autosteer is available and great for highway drives.
Return with at least 70% charge or Avis will add a $35 fee.
When I walked up to the Avis counter at SFO for my one month car rental, I didn’t ask to rent a Tesla. That was just the car they gave me.
This is awesome, I thought. A Tesla. I’ve never driven one, but how cool will this be? Surely it can’t be that hard. And I’ll get to experience what EV ownership is like for the next month.
Turns out, hard enough that I couldn’t get out of the parking garage. I sat there in silence, poking the gear stalk and tapping random parts of the screen, until I finally gave up and Googled “how to turn on a Tesla.”
No one at Avis offered a walkthrough or an info sheet. So if you ever find yourself in the same spot, confused, boxed in, and slightly embarrassed, here’s what I wish I knew before driving off.
We also ended up taking the car on a road trip from San Francisco to LA, so I’ll share how it actually felt to charge at Superchargers, drive, and return a Tesla through Avis.
Starting the Car: The Key Card Situation
POV: realizing there are no buttons, just one very confident touchscreen.
You don’t “start” a Tesla the normal way. There’s no button. Just a key card.
To unlock the car, tap the card on the driver’s side door pillar. To drive, put the card on the center console (behind the cup holders), press the brake, and shift into Drive. That’s it. And because it’s an EV, there’s no roar of the engine. It just… drives.
If you own a Tesla, you use the Tesla app for everything. It turns your phone into the key, lets you start the car remotely, check the charge level, cool the cabin before you get in, and even see where it’s parked.
With an Avis rental, none of that works. You just get a key card. It’s fine once you figure it out, but after seeing how much control Tesla owners have, it feels surprisingly bare-bones.
Getting Used to One-Pedal Driving
Teslas use something called regenerative braking. It means when you lift your foot off the accelerator, the car slows itself down and sends that energy back to the battery. At first, it feels like you’ve done something wrong because the car decelerates immediately. But after ten minutes, it’s kind of amazing. You barely ever touch the brake pedal.
If it feels too aggressive, you can adjust the settings under: Controls → Pedals & Steering → Regenerative Braking.
How Supercharging Works for Avis Rentals
If you rent a Tesla from Avis, yes, you can use Tesla Superchargers. It’s ridiculously easy.
Type your destination into the Tesla’s built-in map.
Tap one of the red lightning bolt icons to find a Supercharger.
When you arrive, open the charge port from the screen and plug in.
That’s it. No accounts, no apps, no credit card. The car recognizes itself and charges on Avis’s Tesla account. Avis will then bill you afterward, like they do with tolls, plus a 2.3% convenience fee on top of whatever Tesla charged.
Each stop usually takes about 15 to 25 minutes and costs around $10 to $15 depending on the location. The car will show how much charge you’ll get and how long to stay. You can literally sit inside with air conditioning on and watch Netflix while it charges.
Pro tip: Superchargers are designed to charge fastest between about 10% and 80% battery. That’s the sweet spot where you’ll get the quickest speeds. Once you go past 80%, the rate slows down a lot to protect the battery. If you leave your car plugged it reaches 80%, Tesla adds an “idle fee” of 50 cents per minute. It’s Tesla’s way of nudging people to unplug and free up spots once charging is complete.
The Adapter Problem No One Mentions
If you want to use a non-Tesla charger, like the slower Level 2 ones you find at hotels or garages, you’ll need a J1772 adapter.
Avis used to include these but stopped after too many went missing. The one at SFO told me they don’t hand them out anymore because people kept stealing them. They cost about $40 to $50 if you want to buy your own.
Luckily, one of the employees had a spare and let me borrow it. If you’re planning to charge anywhere other than a Tesla Supercharger, make sure to ask at the counter to see if they have one for you.
Returning the Car: The 70% Rule
Avis wants Teslas returned with at least 70% battery. If not, they’ll charge you $35. My advice: find a Supercharger near the airport, charge to 80%, and by the time you drive there you’ll be right around 70%
Road Tripping from SF to LA in a Tesla
During the month we had the Tesla, we decided to take the Model Y on a weekend road trip to LA to see what it’s actually like to travel long distance in an EV. Tesla’s navigation makes it simple. You just set your destination and it automatically plots your charging stops, including how long to stay at each one. It even preconditions the battery before you arrive so charging is faster.
Not all Superchargers are equal though:
250 kW stations are the fastest, about 15 to 20 minutes.
150 kW stations are decent, around 25 to 35 minutes.
72 kW “urban” ones are slow, more like 45 to 60 minutes.
Each stop ended up being the perfect built-in break: grab coffee, stretch your legs, use the bathroom, and by the time you’re back, the car’s ready to go. We found that keeping the battery between 20 and 80 percent worked best for range and speed. I used Google Maps reviews to see what amenities different Supercharger stops had.
The Kettleman City Supercharger Stop
Speaking of amenities, if you’re driving between San Francisco to LA, Kettleman City is a must-stop. It’s Tesla’s version of a flagship “gas station,” a huge Supercharger hub off I-5 designed for long-haul EV travelers.
There are about 56 Superchargers, plus a lounge that feels more like an airport club than a roadside pit stop. Inside you’ll find clean restrooms, snacks for purchase, and Wi-Fi. It’s also right next to an In-N-Out, so we grabbed food from the drive-through before heading to the chargers and ate inside while the car topped up for 20 minutes.
No self-driving with rentals :(
The biggest downside of renting a Tesla is that you don’t get Full Self Driving. The good news is that it did have Autosteer, which is like a lighter version of self driving for highways. It keeps the car centered in the lane, handles gentle curves, and even adjusts when someone merges near you. It stops automatically if you put on your turn signal to change lanes.
It was surprisingly good and easily my favorite feature of the trip. It made long stretches of I-5 feel calmer and less tiring, and it gave me a glimpse of what full autonomy might actually feel like someday.
Final Thoughts
By the end of the month, I’d gone from “why won’t this car move” to “I kind of want one.”
Once you get used to one-pedal driving, the Model Y feels smooth and intuitive. Supercharging is seamless, and even the weird silence starts to feel relaxing after a while. Renting one actually made me want to buy one. Not necessarily today, but enough that I caught myself on the Tesla site later that night, half-jokingly checking configurations.
Would I rent a Tesla from Avis again? Yes.
Would I prefer if they gave you a quick-start guide? Also yes.
