Renting Electric: Top Rental Car Companies That Offer EVs
As car buyers have shifted more and more towards prioritizing electric vehicles, car rental companies have followed. With how many cars they put out on the road each year, American car rental companies have a significant impact on the country's carbon footprint, and thankfully, they've realized this, incorporating more and more electric cars into their fleets as EVs have become more popular.
Whether your life revolves around making the world a better place or simply curious to try out the latest and greatest electric cars the next time you're on a trip and need a rental, you need a starting point. Which of the major car rental agencies have large supplies of electric cars that you can top up using the best public EV charging networks?
Using J.D. Power 2023 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study as a guide to determine what a "top rental car company" entails, and with the caveat that there are drawbacks to renting EVs, let's take a look at which of those top rental agencies are currently loaning out electric vehicles.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Enterprise Rent-A-Car topped the latest J.D. Power survey. Founded by Jack Taylor as Executive Leasing Company in St. Louis in 1957, it has more than 7,600 locations worldwide across more than 85 countries, and more than 4,100 are in the United States.
Enterprise introduced electric vehicles to its fleet in 2011 with 500 Nissan Leafs, adding the Chevrolet Volt that same year. "We have a vested interest and a history of working with manufacturers to integrate alternative-powered vehicles into our fleet," Lee Broughton, Enterprise's then-director of sustainability, told UPI in 2010. The company had already been pushing whatever fuel-efficient vehicles were available on the market going back to a 2007 initiative.
"We know that more and more consumers expect the companies that serve them to share their concerns about the environment," said Andrew C. Taylor, then-chairman and CEO, in a June 2007 press release. "For our company and our industry to be successful, we must address those concerns while also working to sustain our business over the long term. To that end, Enterprise is investing in the latest technologies to minimize fuel consumption and related emissions, today and tomorrow." Enterprise's parent company, Enterprise Holdings, which also owns National Car Rental and Alamo Rent a Car (second and third place on the J.D. Power survey), would later join the non-profit Electrification Coalition in November 2010, with Taylor noting the company's responsibility "[a]s operator of the world's largest fleet of vehicles" in a press release.
Hertz Rent a Car
Hertz Rent a Car, probably the most enduring name in the rental car business, was fourth among the Enterprise Holdings companies on the 2023 J.D. Power survey. The company, founded by Walter L. Jacobs of Chicago, Illinois, launched in 1918 as Rent-A-Car before being purchased in 1923 by John D. Hertz, who redubbed it Hertz Drive-Ur-Self.
Like Enterprise, Hertz started renting electric vehicles in 2011, starting with the Nissan Leaf. Hertz showed just how serious it was in November 2010 when it announced a partnership with NRG Energy to develop a charging infrastructure for its incoming fleet of EVs. (That came the same week as another partnership, this time with EV manufacturer CODA Automotive.)
"Hertz is the first to provide consumers with electric vehicle access on a global scalar," then chairman and CEO Mark P Frissora said in a December 2010 press release. "By introducing EVs in New York, Washington, and San Francisco, we're the first to make tomorrow's driving experience available to consumers today and we look forward to continue building out our EV platform, making electric mobility a reality for consumers worldwide."
Hertz added Tesla cars to its inventory starting in late 2013, albeit as part of its high-end lineup. In October 2021, it pledged to order 100,000 more vehicles from Elon Musk's company by the end of 2022. That pledge had a noticeable positive effect on Tesla stock, pushing the EV giant past a $1 trillion market cap.
Avis Car Rental
Avis Car Rental, next on the J.D. Power list, was founded by Warren Avis in 1946. It was the first airport-based car rental business, opening at Willow Run Airport in Detroit and then at Miami Airport in Florida. With roughly 5,500 locations in over 165 countries, it has various electric vehicle options available. Its parent company, Avis Budget Group, also includes the next brand down the J.D. Power list, Budget Rent a Car.
"The fleet expansion is a crucial step towards a greener future within the car rental industry and Denmark in general," said Kasper Gjedsted, managing director at Avis's Danish division, in an April 2014 Just Auto article. "The support from the Danish Energy Agency now makes it possible for us to rent out electric cars at a lower price than conventional cars. I am convinced that this will encourage many more people to make the switch to electric cars — especially public institutions and companies for whom the electric car is an obvious pool car solution."
In 2020, Avis secured 130 million Euros in funding specifically earmarked to bolster its fleet of hybrid and electric cars. Investors reacted positively and boosted Avis's stock price when it pledged to further increase its EV inventory in November 2021. It's worth noting that Avis updated its EV rental terms for the U.S. market in February 2023, including the caveat that one-way rentals are not allowed, meaning that EVs must be returned to the original rental location.