Here’s one way to help kick-start the revolution to hybrid, electric and other fuel efficient cars. It’s business travel, or more specifically, business car rental policies. Here’s what I mean.

With all the hooplas about saving or improving the environment, we hear about corporations “going green” everyday. This is true for both those companies providing environmentally friendly products and services, and those that do not. For large fleets like the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, etc., they are already looking at ways to improve their efficiencies and reduce fleet emissions. But for each and every organization doing business every single day, business travel and business car rental policies need to get with the time too.

Business-related car rentals, which is closely tied to business travel, is big business. Hertz, National, Avis, Enterprise and a host of other car rental companies operate hundreds of thousands of cars in their fleets. Guess what, all these rental cars share the public roads and contribute to the emissions problems just like any other cars. While the rental car companies are adding more hybrids and fuel-efficient cars to their fleets, just like the consumers are converting to more hybrids, the issue is still about the chicken and the egg problem. Which should come first? Companies to provide hybrid/electric cars, or consumers to demand for them. By supporting hybrid rentals for business travels, companies can do their part to speed up this conversion process.

New corporate hybrid car rental policies can do the following:

• Directly support their corporate policies in “going green.” Many companies are already going green, from simple things like using less papers, encouraging employee carpooling, implementing recycling programs and teaching employees ways to save electricity, to complex things like converting operations to run on solar power, or putting into action various processes and equipment to operate more efficiently, utilize renewable power, and invest in carbon offset projects. A new corporate hybrid car rental policy just fits right in.
• Directly communicate to car rental companies (and car manufacturers) that there is a demand for hybrid, electric and fuel efficient cars. Fleets buy their cars in large numbers at a time, which is a perfect way to say to car makers that, yes, make more of these and we’ll buy them. Maybe the stimulus package should also set aside a good chunk for this sort of program. Compare to individual tax breaks that the stimulus plan provides, I think this program will make much bigger impact much sooner.
• Directly educate consumers (employees are consumers too) that hybrid, electric and fuel efficient cars is the way to go. The consumers’ dollars drive the economy, and for a car industry trying to pick itself up while promoting a new technology at the same time, this is “killing two birds with one stone.” Consumers will have a chance to “test drive” these new cars on an extended period of time as they go about their business or personal trips, which surely beats going into a dealer for a 5-minute test drive. I don’t know about you, but to me, an educated consumer is a good buyer.

But the corporate bean counters will say this is too expensive? Well it’s true that hybrid car rental rates today are higher than conventional car rates, sometimes more than double for a daily rental during the business week. This means corporate travel expenses will go up. But to this I say: work it into the travel budget, just like any other “going green” initiatives, and it will work out fine. If a company advocates going green in its business operations, then this is the an important element of that corporate program.

So what do you think: should businesses advocate and implement a corporate hybrid car rental policy? Share your views with a comment below.

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The Greening of the Corporations – Saving Money or Saving the Environment is a post from: CleanCarTalk

Updated 04-06-09. Just a few years ago, hybrid cars were difficult if not impossible to find at rental car agencies. While renting a hybrid car is still a relatively new concept, it is now becoming more widespread. National agencies like Enterprise and Hertz already have thousands of hybrids in their fleets and will be adding more. As both large and small car rental companies add hybrid cars to their fleets and making them available to the traveling public, it won’t be long before renting a hybrid becomes the norm.

Here’s a list of the top ten rental companies in the U.S. providing hybrid rental cars. In no particular order:

1. Eqocar.com: This online hybrid rental company based in Burbank, California prides itself on being completely economically friendly and working to better the environment. Eqocar.Com makes a range of cars available, from the economic Honda Civics and Toyota Priuses, to full size cars and SUVs, to luxury cars like the diesel Mercedes-Benz E350 and hybrid Lexuses.
    
2. SimplyHybrid.com: Also based in California, SimplyHybrid.com is another company completely dedicated to hybrid rentals. Unlike major companies like Enterprise, this company has fleets of hybrid rentals available all the time.
    
3. Hertz Car Rental Corp.: Hertz is a commonly known car rental agency that has over 4,000 hybrid rentals in their fleets. Hertz offers guaranteed availability in 50 of the top rated airports throughout the United States.
    
4. Enterprise Rent-A-Car: Enterprise Rent-A-Car has been a favorite car rental company for years and now they are leading with the largest fleet of hybrid car rentals. While they do not guarantee availability, Enterprise does their best to accommodate hybrid rental requests and are extremely helpful when you book in advanced. Use the link above to go directly to their hybrid cars page.
    
5. Avis Budget: With over 2,500 hybrid rentals throughout their fleets, Avis Budget offers hybrid rentals in most major cities throughout the United States and offer guaranteed reservations.
    
6. FindExotic.com: While FindExotic.com is not a rental company itself, we found FindExotic.com is great for finding hybrid rentals in a number of areas and is such a good resource, it deserves a spot on the list. Until hybrid cars becomes mainstream, I guess they are still considered exotic cars by many people.
    
7. National Car Rental: Owned by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National car rental is a great resource for hybrid rental cars nationwide.
    
8. Alamo Rental Cars: Alamo rental cars is also owned by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and is offering hybrid rentals in places where Enterprise isn’t available.
    
9. Fox Rent-A-Car: Fox Rent-A-Car is a well known company offering hybrid rentals in many major cities, offering great customer service, Fox has become a favorite.
    
10. Toyota Rent A Car:  Yes you read that right. Toyota dealers are making their cars available for rent, including many of the well-known Toyota hybrid models. Follow the link above, then enter your zip code to search for the nearest participating Toyota dealers.

Hybrid rentals are a great way to go green and help the earth while you travel, either for business or pleasure. They are also a fabulous way to “test drive” new hybrid car models before you decide to buy one.

For those already driving hybrids as your main transportation at home, renting a hybrid during your travel makes a lot of sense. For those who haven’t driven a hybrid and are curious, hybrid rental cars are definitely the way to try them out.

Whichever rental car company you go with, just go green!

Updated 04-06-09. A recent article by Paulo Prada of the The Wall Street Journal indicated that Enterprise, Avis, Hertz and Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group have sought for a piece of the Federal bailout money. Read the Wall Street Journal titled “Rental-Car Firms Seek a Bailout,”  and also jaxon’s post below. Thanks jaxon.

Top Ten U.S. Car Rental Companies Going Green with Hybrid Cars is a post from: CleanCarTalk