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From Los Angeles to Shanghai, Car Rentals are Going Green
Green Technology Featured Articles
March 22, 2013

From Los Angeles to Shanghai, Car Rentals are Going Green

By Cheryl Kaften
TMCnet Contributor

Los Angeles is one of the few places in the United States where the landscape is green year-round—and so is the mindset of many of the residents. Now, a rental agency is offering cars to match.

Venice, California-based MPG Car Rental—which describes itself as the “premier all-green car rental company” in the City of Angels, is offering an expansive array of hybrid rental options, as well as a number of clean diesel and electric cars. Among the choices are the Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, Chevrolet Volt, Honda (News - Alert) Insight, Lexus CT 200 Hybrid, Lexus RX400h, Lexus RX450, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Toyota Prius 3rd Generation, Toyota Prius C, Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, Toyota Prius V, Volkswagen Jetta TDI (News - Alert), Volkswagen Jetta Wagon TDI, and the Volkswagen Beetle TDI.


Even long-time L.A. residents interested in upgrading to an energy efficient hybrid can rent a vehicle from MPG Car Rental for up to four days. When the car is returned, if the driver decides to purchase the same model from MPG Car Rental's affiliated dealers, he or she will be reimbursed for the full four days of rental.

East Meets West

While green is the specialty of MPG, other major car rental companies—from Alamo to Avis to Budget to Hertz—also are offering hybrid and electric models across the nation; as is Green Motion in the United Kingdom.

In fact, Enterprise Rent-A-Car—based in Clayton, Missouri, and offering green models throughout North America—announced this week that its Shanghai partner has launched a large-scale electric car rental service. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company is hoping the new service will provide some impetus to Beijing's much-vaunted, but largely stalled, green-car plans. China wants 500,000 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road by 2015 and five million by 2020.

While industry analysts believe that the effort may be premature—given the reluctance to transition to green vehicles in China and the regional unfamiliarity with car rentals—Enterprise’s affiliate in the People’s Republic is more optimistic. "It has got to start from somewhere," said Ray Zhang, chairman and chief executive of eHi Car Service Ltd., the firm behind the venture. "Someone's got to do it first."

Zhang is confident the adoption of electric vehicles in China will rise given the country's air pollution, traffic congestion and parking problems. He hopes his EV rental service will help expedite acceptance by enabling Chinese consumers to familiarize themselves with green cars without forking over the large sums needed to buy one.




Edited by Amanda Ciccatelli


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