I thought I made a mistake renting an electric vehicle in Italy. There was a steep learning curve, but I’d do it again.

• Last spring, my friends and I accidentally rented an electric car on a trip to Italy.
• The rental had a learning curve. We charged at slow stations and spent hours in unplanned towns.
• These unplanned moments became a highlight of our trip, and we fell in love with our EV rental. 

The car was dead silent as panic set in among my friend group.

We had just spent four unplanned hours charging our electric rental car in Lake Como, Italy. By the time we got back to the charging station, the car’s battery still wasn’t full. 

Based on quick math, it would take us 12 hours to travel from Lake Como to Florence, Italy, with the necessary stops for charging. We had budgeted five hours for the drive.

Looking forward to the rest of our trip, it felt seemingly impossible to have enough time to enjoy our destinations, catch our scheduled flights, and charge our EV. 

One friend started calling our car-rental company, hoping we could trade our automatic EV for a gas car.

I hopped on Google to figure out how people manage life with electric cars when they take so long to charge.

That’s when we realized our mistake — we had used a charger with a low voltage. A high-voltage charger would take just 30 minutes to get our car’s battery to 80%.

Our panic turned into laughter. And while we were relieved we wouldn’t spend our whole vacation waiting for our EV to charge, we still weren’t sure if we’d regret renting an EV.

But even after the hassle, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Planning our days around charging

Last spring, I arrived at Milano Linate Airport and headed to the car-rental kiosk with a friend.

A worker ran through all the details of our rental. She verified our dates, confirmed our car was automatic, and finally handed us a plastic credit card.

This, she explained, would be the card we’d use to charge the car. 

After seeing our confused faces, she clarified that we were getting an electric car. It wasn’t our choice. Instead, it was our only option since we needed an automatic vehicle. 

We figured it wouldn’t be a big deal, so we grabbed the keys to our Mokka SUV. After meeting our two other friends, we set off for Lake Como.

We had enough charge to get us to and around Lake Como for three days. On the fourth day, we desperately needed to recharge.

That’s when we made the voltage mistake, which was the first of many errors. Multiple times throughout the trip, we forgot to keep an eye on the battery, resulting in a stressful hunt for the nearest charger. 

We also learned we couldn’t trust the car’s estimated mileage. Depending on the road, the EV’s battery would drain at different rates. Highways, for example, drained our charge much faster than driving around a small Italian town. 

So even when we planned for charging stops, plans needed to change based on our car’s needs. 

These unplanned stops were a highlight of our two-week trip

We pulled into Piacenza, an Italian town I had never heard of. Situated between Lake Como and Florence, it’s located in the most northern point of Italy’s Emilia region.

Our car’s battery was nearly dead, so we figured we might as well take advantage of the forced stop and explore the town.

We sipped Aperol spritzes, ate gelato, and admired the town’s churches and architecture. 

While exploring, we learned about Piacenza’s history. France conquered the town multiple times in the Middle Ages, so a French influence can still be spotted throughout the Italian town. 

If we had a gas car, we would have never stopped in Piacenza. Instead, we would’ve passed through the small town and spent more time in touristy Florence.

A few days later, we stopped in Sasso Marconi, where our group explored a local market and met friendly, older Italian men in a local café. 

These afternoon spots in smaller towns gave us a glimpse into a version of Italy I hadn’t seen before. Since most of my time spent in the country had been focused on tourist destinations, the electric car forced us to explore under-the-radar Italian spots.

It also saved us money. Charging our electric vehicle was included in our rental price, so we didn’t have to budget for gas during the entire trip. 

It was also nice to know that my trip had a slightly lower carbon footprint since electric vehicles typically emit lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions. 

Between those three advantages, I’d easily rent an EV again.