Here’s yet another indication that the public is ready for green automobiles.
Hertz Global Holdings Inc. said Thursday it will spend $68 million to add 3,400 Toyota Prius hybrids to its fleets by 2008. And Avis Budget Group Inc. said this week it plans to make 1,000 hybrid Prius vehicles available for rent as early as next week.
EV Rental, self-billed as “The Nation’s Only Environmental Rental Car Company” has been operating with virtually no green-auto competition via their partnership with Fox Rent A Car. Availability has been limited to Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Earlier this year, Enterprise Rent-A-Car had announced a limited program intended to be restricted to California for now. The entry of Hertz and Avis raises the stakes considerably in American hybrid rentals.
Hertz said its hybrid vehicles will be available for rent at 50 of the company’s U.S. airport locations, with 100 of them reserved for its New York City fleet.
The stop-and-go flow of Manhattan traffic provides an ideal driving environment for the hybrids, allowing them to mainly operate off of their electric motors, the company said…
John Barrows, a spokesman for Avis, said this week his company will offer Prius hybrids in its California, Portland, Ore., Seattle and Washington, D.C., markets but may expand the locations in the future based on consumer demand.
I’ll request more specifics and will pass along what I learn.
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This is another great application for hybrids. The rental company can charge a little bit more and the renter can save the cash on gas.
Mike
Thanks for contributing to the discussion Mike.
Lots of potentially positive ramifications here. One thing to consider is that this will present an opportunity for a whole new wave of consumers to test drive hybrids, in essence.
I can’t wait to see the advertising campaigns these moves will produce.
This is a fine development, and Doug you raise an excellent point that this permits legions of drivers to test drive hybrids
Why is it, though, that when companies go green sometimes an odd and palpable sense of chagrin makes itself felt? As in: “Uh, we know we should have been doing this along, but….”
Sure Steve. Even the idea of renting a hybrid as a novelty would seem to have legs. Anybody with even the slightest curiosity about hybrids – assuming they are aware of the availability – would be likely to choose the hybrid I would think.
Doug -
I hadn’t through of it as an opportunity to test drive. That does seem like a good opportunity to expand hybrid sales. I just figured that it was a win for everyone. I usually end up doing several hundred miles on rentals even when I have them for a few days. Charge me $10 extra to save me $20 – good deal all around.
Mike