Electric cars like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt are now available as rental cars, as are a host of hybrids. By Nick Chambers, The Daily Green March 1, 2011

Renting Hybrid and Electric Cars
Thinking of buying an electric car, but don’t know if it will fit your lifestyle? Want to try out some new green vehicular duds before plunking down serious purchase cash? Curious if the Ford Fusion Hybrid is better than your Prius? Perhaps a green rental—for as little as a few hours or even on an entire vacation—is in the cards?

Hybrids have been available for rent at major car rental companies for a several years now, but these days even electric cars are showing up for rent at more and more locations. There’s never been this much choice in eco-friendly rental rides before. Far from simply being a way to save some fuel cash on vacation, green rentals are an easy way to test out more sustainable transportation before making a big purchase.

So, now you’ve got a fun—and green—weekend adventure planned? Great! But before you rush out to your closest rental location, be sure to check if they have the car you’re looking for. At this point not all locations or companies support all the vehicles listed—Hertz and Enterprise have been the most forward thinking—but the choices are expanding at a break neck pace.

Some vehicles, such as the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt, are only available at a few locations across the entire U.S. right now and may only be available as hourly rentals through car sharing programs like Connect by Hertz or Enterprise’s WeCar. The best bet is to plan ahead and check out your options first.

When looking over the list, the term “MPGe” may pop out as a new concept. It stands for “miles per gallon equivalent” and is a new measure established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to represent the efficiency of a car running on electricity. It’s a conversion based on how much energy is stored in a gallon of gas compared to how much energy is stored in a kilowatt of electricity. Is it confusing? Yes, but it’s the official way of measuring things now.

Nissan Leaf

Gas Mileage: 99 MPGe
Rental availability: Select U.S. locations
Rental car companies: Hertz, Enterprise
Rental terms: Hourly and daily

As the world’s first mass-market, relatively affordable and globally-distributed 100% electric car, the Nissan Leaf has kicked off what some say is the biggest revolution in automobiles since they were invented. And now you can go and rent a piece of history.

With approximately 90-100 miles of all-electric range on a full battery, the Nissan Leaf will provide plenty of distance for around-town jaunts, but unless there is robust public charging where you’ll be driving it, don’t expect to use the Leaf for any longer distance trips. (See: The 10 Best U.S. Cities for Electric Cars) Perhaps a rental for a couple of hours is the best way to test it out?

The Leaf can add about 5 miles of driving range for every hour of charging on a standard three-prong household outlet—and comes with a cable to do it. For a bit faster charge it can add about 15 miles of driving range using a dedicated higher voltage charging system known as “Level 2.” While some areas will have a lots of Level 2 infrastructure soon—and some already do—be sure to sort out charging station locations beforehand so you aren’t left high and dry.

Chevrolet Volt

Gas Mileage: 93 MPGe electric, 37 mpg gas
Rental Availability: Select U.S. locations
Rental Car Companies: Hertz, Enterprise
Rental Terms: Hourly and daily

The uniqueness of the Chevy Volt is that is an electric car, but it is also a gas-powered car. As a plug-in hybrid, it has both a combustion engine and a couple of electric motors to help it move forward. With a full battery it can travel on electricity alone for 35-40 miles, and after that, if you don’t plug it in again, it will use gas and return about 37 mpg—hence the two “fuel” economy ratings above.

While this makes it more flexible for longer term car rentals than a Nissan Leaf, you’ll find that it will be much more green if you can plug it in frequently during the day—so much so that you might never even use gas at all. The Volt supports the same charging as the Leaf, so, just like with the Leaf, you’ll want to sort out charging station locations ahead of time for maximum benefit.

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