EV manufacturers will see the hire companies as a marketing exercise - get a wide range of relatively prosperous drivers into an EV in the hope that they will (a) be converted to the benefits of EV, and (b) specify the driven brand when it comes to the next purchase.

If pricing is anything like ICE cars they will get a very healthy discount on normal prices.

There is also much less chance of abuse to engine, clutch and gearbox - the first is electronically controlled and the other two are non-existent.

The hire company (who seem to get surpised every they get a booking and never have any cars available) tried to "upgrade" me to a 40kWh Nissan Leaf for a work trip recently.

I was doing a 600 ish mile round trip over two days so when I told them that they then offered me an Aygo instead. I was unsure which would be worse - a journey with at least two 45 minute charging stops each way or rattling along in an Aygo. I then tried complaining a bit and they found something suitable from behind the sofa.

If it been a Niro, Kona or something else with a half decent motorway range, which would have meant only one half hour charging stop (which I have to take anyway to meet the company safety policy) , I'd have taken it to see what it was like.

I wonder how they deal with the "return it full" policy though. For a petrol car, that's easy as you just fill up at the nearest petrol station just before returning the car. The equivalent with an EV would be the nearest fast charger, but they will only charge most cars to about 80% before slowing right down. It would probably need to be overnight on a slow charger to get a genuine full battery.