If you’ve been wanting to try an electric vehicle, renting can be an affordable option. But finding one may soon become much more difficult.

Electric vehicles have been financially disastrous for rental companies, especially Hertz, which in January scaled back plans to acquire 100,000 Teslas after the cars’ resale values plunged much faster than the company had expected.

Hertz’s experience had a chilling effect on its industry, and many rental car companies are now trying to sell off electric vehicles at deep discounts. And it may be a while before they start buying again.

Last year, more than 4 percent of the cars sold by manufacturers to rental companies were electric, according to S&P Global Mobility. So far this year, that number is just 1.4 percent.

In theory, renting an electric car is a great way for people to try and become comfortable with new types of vehicles like battery-powered cars that produce no tailpipe emissions. “The potential that rental companies can have in reshaping consumer behavior and helping to promote adoption is critical,” said Stephanie Valdez-Streaty, the director of industry insights at Cox Automotive. “But there’s a long way to go.”

Ms. Valdez-Streaty said rental firms had recently been offering good deals on electric vehicles, but those were unlikely to last as the companies thinned their fleets of such cars.

Hertz and other rental car companies found that offering customers electric vehicles at a profit was more difficult than they had expected. Most rental car complexes at airports lacked chargers. Many renters were not prepared for how quickly electric cars accelerated, leading to more accidents and higher insurance premiums. And some companies found they couldn’t get spare parts for such cars as quickly as they could for gasoline cars

“They thought E.V.s would be more simple and straightforward and cheaper to maintain,” said Karl Brauer, an executive analyst at iSeeCars.com, an online car search site. “They’re finding that’s not true.”

In a statement, Hertz said it would “continue to offer our customers the widest possible choice of vehicle makes and models, including electric vehicles.”

The biggest problem for the rental companies was the rapid depreciation of cars made by Tesla, the leading manufacturer of electric cars. The company, led by Elon Musk, sharply cut prices on new models last year to prop up sales. That pushed down the prices for used Teslas. A study released last month from iSeeCars.com found that used electric vehicles had lost value faster than the average used gas car had this year and, in May, cost less on average than used gasoline cars for the first time.

Resale values are a critical part of the financial calculus for rental companies because they generally sell cars before they accumulate too many miles. Rental car companies record losses when they sell cars for less than they expected to. In the first three months of the year, the diminished value of Hertz’s electric fleet lowered its profit by $195 million.

Rental companies “are 100 percent dependent on residual values,” said Shay Natarajan, a partner at Mobility Impact Partners, a private equity firm that invests in sustainable transportation. “It’s just a very difficult business model.”

James Iovino, who lives in Baldwin, N.Y., listed about nine electric vehicles on the car-sharing website Turo. But he got out of the business a month or so ago after E.V. prices dropped.

“I got burned for the same reason Hertz got hurt — Elon Musk opens his mouth and the industry takes a dive,” he said.

Full Story: Electric Vehicles May Become Harder to Rent - The New York Times (nytimes.com)