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Enterprise Rent-A-Car to offer electric cars from 2011

Offering a 100-mile range, the Nissan LEAF will be made available in eight Enterprise locations from January

The largest car rental company in North America is to offer electric vehicles at select locations from early next year, starting with the Nissan LEAF.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car said yesterday it has 500 LEAFs on order, expecting deliveries to begin in January 2011.

The electric vehicles, which are set to offer a 100-mile range on a single charge, will be initially offered to customers in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, as well as Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee, and San Diego and Los Angeles, California.

Customers in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, will also be able to get their hands on the five-door hatchback.

Enterprise will start installing charging stations at these locations from November 2010.

The company said it was rolling the vehicles out to a limited number of branches so that it could ensure its staff were properly trained to show customers how to use and recharge the vehicles.

Ultimately, the company intends to add other kinds of electric vehicles from other manufacturers as they become available, expanding deployment through its 5,000 US locations.

“Vested interest”

“As a company that owns and operates the world’s largest fleet of passenger vehicles, we have a vested interest and a history of working with manufacturers to integrate alternative-powered vehicles into our fleet,” said Lee Broughton, director of sustainability for Enterprise Holdings, parent firm of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental brands.

“With airport and neighborhood locations within 15 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population, our Enterprise Rent-A-Car offices are uniquely positioned to test the market viability of new alternative fuel technologies like the electric vehicle with daily commuters nationwide.”

Enterprise Holdings, which already operates a fleet of nearly 7,000 gas/electric hybrid vehicles, is also working on making use of biodiesel systems in its Alamo, Enterprise and National airport shuttle buses, and it contributing toward alternative fuels research including support for algae biofuels development.

Enterprise offices are uniquely positioned to test the viability of new alternative fuel technologies” - Lee Broughton, Enterprise Holdings

LEAF

The Nissan LEAF is being released by its manufacturer later this year, priced at around $25,280 including federal tax credits, and can be charged with a regular household 110-volt electrical outlet overnight, or more quickly via higher-voltage fast charging stations.

The vehicles will first will be available to consumers in December, in California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona and Tennessee, where 55% of customers on the reserve list are located.

The LEAF will then be introduced to Texas and Hawaii in January 2011, then in April 2011 drivers in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina and Alabama could get their hands on the vehicles.

Nissan plans to make the LEAF available to the rest of the US by the end of 2011.