Rent an Electric Car in Australia: Who Has EVs, What It Costs and the Charging Rules

You can rent an electric car in Australia from most of the big hire companies, but mainly at capital city airports. Hertz, Avis, Europcar, Sixt and Thrifty all have EVs, usually Teslas, Polestars, BYDs or Kias. Daily rates run from about $60 to $110 as of November 2026, roughly the same as or a little above a petrol car. Peer-to-peer platform Evee fills the gaps with privately owned EVs in more than a dozen cities.

What catches renters out is the fine print, not the price. Each company sets its own rule for how much charge you must return the car with, and the fees for falling short aren’t always published. Outside the capitals, finding an EV from a major brand is hard.

This guide covers who rents what, what it costs, the return charge rules company by company, and how to use a rental as an extended test drive before you buy.

Where to rent an electric car in Australia

The major hire companies keep their EVs mostly at capital city airports and a few city branches. If you can pick up and drop off at a capital city airport, you’ll have options. If you live 100 km out of town or in a regional city, you may find nothing from the big brands at your nearest depot.

Company	EVs on offer (as of November 2026)	Where
Hertz	Polestar 2, Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model Y	Capital city airports and selected city sites
Avis	Tesla Model Y	Selected airports
Europcar	Cupra, BMW, MG and Kia models; Teslas at some sites	Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane airports and city branches; Perth
Sixt	Has offered Tesla Model 3 and Y, BYD Atto 3 and BMW iX3	Sydney Airport and NSW sites, Canberra, NT
Thrifty	EVs at selected sites	Mainly airports
KINTO (Toyota)	Toyota bZ4X	Participating Toyota dealers
Evee	Privately owned EVs, most popular models	Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Canberra, Darwin and regional centres

Hertz’s EV page calls its fleet one of the largest EV hire fleets in Australia. Europcar says every electric rental includes charging cables. Budget doesn’t rent EVs in Australia.

Toyota’s own rental service is a useful alternative if you’re near a dealer. KINTO runs through participating Toyota dealers, and some offer the bZ4X. One dealer lists it at $99 a day, with the first booking free under a promo code. Fleet, pricing and availability vary by dealer.

Car share services are thinner on EVs. GoGet has a small number of electric cars in its mostly petrol fleet. Uber Carshare and Turo both have privately owned EVs listed in the bigger cities.

What EV hire costs per day

Expect $60 to $110 a day from the major companies for a mid-size EV, as of November 2026. Kayak’s November 2026 Sydney data put the average EV hire at $77 a day against $52 for petrol, with Europcar and Thrifty listing EVs from around $61 to $62. In Brisbane the EV average was $89 against $49 for petrol.

The headline rate isn’t the whole cost. Add these before you compare:

• Excess reduction. Standard insurance excess on a rental runs to several thousand dollars. Reducing it to zero adds a daily fee.
• Charging. Unless the rental includes it, you pay public charging rates of roughly 40 to 80 cents per kWh. A 10 to 80% top-up of a Model Y at a fast charger costs roughly $25 to $40.
• Recharge fees. Return below the company’s minimum and you pay for the missing charge plus, at some companies, a service fee.
• Kilometre limits. Europcar, for example, includes unlimited kilometres in metro areas on rentals up to 14 days, with daily caps for country and remote driving. Peer-to-peer listings often cap kilometres too.
• Tolls. These are passed on with an admin fee. Sixt, for example, charges a $3.30 service fee on each day you use a toll road.

Evee works differently. Hosts set their own prices, and Evee’s 2026 host guide says owners typically charge $85 to $150 a day for a Model 3 or Atto 3. Insurance is built in, with an option to cut damage liability to zero. Kilometre limits vary by host, and excess kilometres can hurt. A listing that includes 200 km a day then charges 50 cents per extra km would add $300 to a 1,200 km, three-day trip.

That’s the real rule for any rental: compare the all-in trip cost, not the daily rate.

Return charge rules, company by company

Every major company sets a minimum charge level for returns, and they don’t match. This is the part to read before you sign.

Company	Supplied at	Return rule	If you return lower
Sixt	At least 80%	80% or more	Charged for battery used, unless you bought prepaid charging
Avis	Not stated	At least 80%	Recharge fee (amount not published)
Europcar	80% or more	Pages conflict; FAQ says 80%	FAQ says fixed recharge fee unless prepaid
Thrifty	Up to 90%	Ideally the same as pickup; never 15% or less	Per-kWh recharge fee after 5% grace, plus a low-battery fee at 15% or less
Hertz	Has supplied cars at 90% with a 90% charge limit	Return at pickup level	Recharge fee

Sixt’s rental terms, effective October 2026, say EVs come with at least 80% and that you’ll be charged for the battery used if you return with less. Sixt also says charging on the Chargefox network is included, which takes much of the sting out. NRMA members get 20% off Sixt’s base rate until 30 June 2027.

Thrifty’s terms are the most detailed. Cars come with up to 90% charge and the charge limit should stay at 90%. Bring it back within 5% of that and there’s no fee. Below that, you pay a per-kWh recharge rate shown on your rental agreement. At 15% or less, a separate low-battery fee applies on top. Thrifty’s terms also ban automatic car washes, charge $500 plus GST to replace a lost charging cable, and exclude underbody and battery damage from the damage waiver.

Europcar is the confusing one. Its FAQ says a fixed recharge fee applies below 80% unless you prepaid. Its charging page says there’s no need to recharge before returning. Some renters report returning cars well below 80% without a fee. Ask at the counter which rule your branch applies, and get the answer on the rental agreement.

Hertz drew criticism after a Drive report that it was setting Polestar 2 charge limits at 90% and charging renters who returned them lower. One renter was billed $8.15. Hertz said it was reviewing the policy. Check the current rule when you book.

Charging a rental EV on the road

Plan your charging before you leave the depot, not after the range warning comes up. Download the apps for the networks on your route and add a payment card at home. Our guide to EV charging apps in Australia covers which ones you’ll need.

Three practical points matter most for renters:

1. Check the cables. Europcar includes them on every EV. Thrifty supplies two. Confirm before you drive off, because a missing portable cable means you can’t charge at a holiday park or a friend’s house.
2. Ask about Superchargers. Most Tesla Superchargers are open to all EVs, so a rental Polestar or BYD can use them through the Tesla app. On Evee, Supercharger costs in the owner’s Tesla account are billed back to you through the platform.
3. Use the charge limit. Most companies want the car back at 80 to 90%. Charging a little past that on your last stop costs less than their recharge fee.

If you’re new to public charging, our EV charging networks guide explains how each network prices its sessions.

Renting an EV as an extended test drive

A rental is the cheapest way to answer the questions a dealer test drive can’t. Dealer test drives usually last an hour or two. A weekend rental lets you do a real highway run, use a public fast charger, try charging off a home powerpoint, and see whether the car’s app and controls bother you after day two.

Rent the exact model you’re considering if you can. Range, charging speed and cabin noise vary more between EVs than between petrol cars of the same size. Our EV range calculator shows what to expect at highway speed, and you can check any model’s official energy use on the federal Green Vehicle Guide.

Here’s what to test in a weekend:

• A highway run at 110 km/h. Watch how fast the range drops compared with the dashboard figure.
• At least one DC fast-charging stop. Note how long 10 to 80% really takes and how easy the app was.
• An overnight charge from a normal powerpoint. This tells you what a 10 amp charger adds while you sleep.
• Your daily routine. School drop-off, the shopping centre car park, your garage or driveway.

More Australians are making the switch. The Electric Vehicle Council’s State of EVs 2026 report found EVs made up 25.8% of new car sales in the first half of 2026, up from 12.1% a year earlier, with about 612,000 on the road by June. Many buyers’ first time behind the wheel of one is still a 20-minute test drive, so a rental is worth the money before you commit.

If you’re working through the decision, our first EV buyer’s guide covers the rest, and the electric vehicles hub compares every model on sale.