Enterprise Adds Hybrids To Rentals

Due to popular demand for more environmentally friendly rentals, Enterprise Rent-A-Car has added its first "Green Branches" in the country at four locations in the Atlanta area. At "Green Branches", Hybrids and fuel efficient vehicles will account for around 60% of the vehicles.

These new "Green Branches" are a great move for the rental company, and show Enterprise's commitment to supporting the use of alternative technologies and fuel-efficient vehicles. According to the Enterprise press release, this is only one facet of their commitment to the environment and their sustainability platform. The other major elements of the company’s stewardship commitment are:

• Customer Carbon Offsets – Enterprise offers customers the opportunity to offset the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of their rental cars by opting in to pay $1.25 per rental fee that will offset their CO2 consumption through TerraPass.

• Embracing new, clean technologies – Enterprise operates the world’s largest fleet of FlexFuel vehicles – more than 73,000 cars and trucks that have the ability to burn E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. In addition, they own about 4,000 gas/electric hybrid vehicles.

• The world’s largest fleet of fuel-efficient vehicles – More than 440,000 cars in the combined Enterprise, National and Alamo worldwide fleet average a highway fuel efficiency rating of at least 28 mpg or better.

• Research – In 2007, the Taylor family gave $25 million to create the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels at one of the world’s foremost plant research centers, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis.

• Conservation – The company's charitable foundation is funding the planting of 50 million trees over the next 50 years at a total cost of $50 million through the 50 Million Tree Pledge, a public/private/non-profit partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service. The trees are being planted on public lands in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

It is nice to see a major car rental company taking action to combat negative effects of their business. We can only hope that more will follow suit, and that this progressive thinking will spread to other markets and industries.