Of all the rental car companies out there, none seem to be opening their eyes to the environment as Avis Budget Group Inc. and Hertz. Soon, Hertz Global Holdings Inc.along with Avis will be offering the option for its renters to drive a hybrid vehicle rather than the standard gas-guzzlers it has always provided in the past. 

By making an investment of over 68 million dollars, Hertz will be adding 3,400 Toyota Prius vehicles to its line-up by 2008. Even sooner, Avis may be adding 1,000 of the same hybrid cars for rent within this week! Giving the ability for rental clients to have more than one type of option when it comes to the energy source of their vehicles gives people that much more of a chance to make a difference. 

The Prius is a gas-electric hybrid vehicle, and if it becomes popular among renters, it could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 3,000 tons per year. Hertz plans on starting the Prius offer at its airport locations, and Avis in its CA, OR, and D.C. locations. This is a start, and based on demand, new locations could well be spring up almost anywhere… though probably not in General Zod’s 2d prison. 

If anything, people interested in buying a hybrid car, …even the Prius itself, could go and rent one now just to try it out. I suppose you could consider it an extended test drive. Hopefully in the future, trends like this one will serve as examples for other large companies to follow. Eventually, the point may be reached where cars like the Prius are looked down on as being inefficient and environmentally unfriendly… won’t that be a great day! 

-LINKS-

Avis Budget Group Inc.
Hertz Global Holdings Inc.
Toyota Prius
General Zod’s 2d prison

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This entry was posted on Sunday, June 17th, 2007 at 5:14 pm and is filed under Transportation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.