With the threat of global warming and other environmental concerns in the forefront of the American mindset, many travelers have begun to turn to hybrid vehicles as their choice for rented transportation during business and personal trips. And airport hybrid rental companies are happy to fill the needs. While the fuel-efficient hybrid cars are popular, they are also still expensive to own. On the other hand, hybrid car rentals have been growing in popularity over the last few years, causing many rental companies to constantly try to add more hybrid cars to their fleets to fill demand, especially at airport locations.
For those interested in renting a hybrid car air airport destinations during a business trip or trying one out before spending thousands to buy one, here is a list of the ten hybrid car rental companies, in no particular order.
- Enterprise – One of the foremost leaders in the green movement, Enterprise has outfitted their nationwide locations with over seven thousand hybrid cars. Their new hybrid cars are priced only slightly above their other vehicles, and they have a large selection. Enterprise’s website makes it easy for travelers to find hybrid cars for rent at airports.
- Hertz – One of the most recognizable car rental companies in the nation, Hertz joined the hybrid movement late but has quickly grown to own over four-thousand of the vehicles. Conveniently located at most large airports, Hertz is an excellent option for travelers.
- Toyota Rent A Car – It’s not general knowledge that Toyota dealers are making their cars available for rent, including many of the well-known Toyota hybrid models. Go to their website toyota.com/rental/ , then enter your zip code to search for the nearest participating Toyota dealers.
- Midway Car Rental – Established in the early 1970’s, Midway is the largest privately owned vehicle rental company in Los Angeles. With over 1,500 vehicles in its fleet and offices in areas around Los Angeles and Hollywood, Midway has hybrid cars and other fuel efficient vehicles for rent.
- Alamo – Owned by the same company that also owns National Car Rental, Alamo Rent-a-Car offers several different hybrid car rental models throughout the United States. Their offerings may be low, for now, but as the popularity of hybrids continues to grow, so will their offerings.
- Avis – Much like Hertz, Avis is a large organization that often operates near airports. Unlike their competitor, however, Avis still only offers hybrid car rentals in select cities around the United States. Still, for those flying to a large city, it is a good bet that Avis will have a hybrid Prius or Escape available.
- Fox Rent-a-Car – Located primarily in California, Fox Rent-a-Car offers both free mileage and low rates to entice customers away from the bigger companies. They have also recently embraced the hybrid car rental market with Toyota Priuses offered at several of their locations.
- National – National Car Rental offers midsize hybrids in most regions of the country at a reasonable price. And where they are unable to offer environmentally beneficial cars, they instead offer charitable contributions to help the cause.
- Thrifty – Another less-known rental agency, Thrifty is a company whose marketing strategy is to offer lower prices to the consumers. As such, when San Francisco’s airport offered a fifteen-dollar discount to all who rent hybrids, Thrifty was quick to join many other companies in offering those vehicles. Outside of the Bay Area, however, offerings remain slim.
- FindExotic.com – While FindExotic.com is not a rental company itself, 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.
These are just ten of the many rental agencies that are quickly becoming providers of hybrid rental cars. And while the total amount of these vehicles remains at around ten to fifteen percent of all cars offered, there is no doubt that they will continue to grow in popularity.
