Hmm ... in the last couple days there have been some newswires stating no one wants to rent an EV for long, as they return it for a pih/phev.. I discounted those as just more paid anti-plugin agenda pieces.
Looking at Tucson Enterprise http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/worldLocationCreateRes.do;jsessionid=yM88Sl0BjnrJ0QkP17cxG3NqPssvtZWhvySvgjL2TX95l1LZV21L!1992591381 Yup, they are behind the curve compared to other offices. Checking all the Tucson offices, none of the them offer pih (I did not see even a hev). Looking at the competition ... https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/vehicleguide/index.jsp?targetPage=vehicleGuideHomeView.jsp&countryCode=US&category=Green%20Traveler%20Collection Supposedly they offer plugins and hevs, but looking at their Tucson offices, nope (you're sol). Looking at http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/hybridOfferedCities.do sez only certain offices offer plugins. Doing a search with keywords tucson rental hybrid brings up several other rental companies. One was Budget, but they also only talk a mean game https://www.budget.com/budgetWeb/reservation/bridge.ex?PICKUP_DATE=22&PICKUP_MONTH_YEAR=201310&PICKUP_TIME=1200&DROPOFF_DATE=23&DROPOFF_MONTH_YEAR=201310&DROPOFF_TIME=1200&IN=0076182C&PICKUP_LOC=TUS&DROPOFF_LOC=&PICKUP_FIELD=Tucson+Intl+Airport%2C+Arizona+-+TUS&DROPOFF_FIELD=&discountNumber=&resForm.couponCode= Looks like Tucson is one of those dead zones where you are stuck renting an ice. But don't feel too bad. While the rental companies talk a mean game touting themselves as green and offering them, as we can see, its is mostly hype. Many customers will have a difficult time renting a plugin or hev from these rental companies. It will depend on if you are lucky enough to live in an area that has 'one' green vehicle. {brucedp.150m.com} On Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 02:20 PM, murdoch wrote: > bcc: various > > Here near Tucson, there are none for rent at any price. No Prius > Plug-ins or C-Max Energi or Fusion Energi or Volts. Nothing from > Enterprise or Avis or Hertz. Nada. > > Since I got a Nissan Leaf, I have spent a lot of money renting > gasoline cars whether here or when traveling. I always ask for a PHEV > and never get one. I then work my way down to a HEV and sometimes am > able to get one. We do not seem to be moving with any urgency toward > making just a few PHEVs available for rent in many of the markets that > don't have those vehicles for rent. > > I am wondering if others who follow EV issues are studying or focusing > on this matter. The company executives are professional when you > speak with them, but the excuse-making is, in my fallible view, > somewhat reminiscent of the excuse-making of the automakers circa > 2001. > > One reason from Enterprise that I have heard is that they take what is > made available to them by the auto companies and so this is a > contributing reason there are no Volts available for rent in my area, > but there are Nissan Leafs available for rent in my area. If (for the > sake of discussion) there is truth to this, then how hard are they > really trying to make GM and other auto OEMS aware they'd be > interested in some Volts and other PHEVs? And how hard are GM and > other auto OEMs trying to place Volts and other PHEVs into the major > rental fleets throughout the country? > > I think some rental agencies would express concern about BEVs > regarding customer range issues and even some customers being > stranded. I'd say if they *really* have those concerns, then surely > they must be aware that PHEVs are a great answer to that type of > concern, and so why not start renting them out today? > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA > (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Faster than the air-speed velocity of an unladen european swallow _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
