Dear Umbra,
Do you know of any car-rental companies that offer hybrids? I have heard of a bunch in environmentally friendly California, but my quick search in the Boston area has turned up nil. With high gas prices, I think I'm brewing up a new campaign!
Jean
Dorchester, Mass.
Dearest Jean,
An environmentally focused rental group, EV Rental Cars, has joined forces with a big-name rental company, Budget, to offer hybrid choices in select "markets": Washington, D.C., major metropolitan areas in California, and parts of Arizona, Nevada, and Virginia. That might help some Grist readers, but it doesn't help you, Jean. However, I found hints that hybrids will join other fleets in farther-flung markets in the future, so keep the hope alive. Each time you must rent a car, search the web and, if you find no hybrids available, be sure to mention your disappointment to the rental agent. (I suspect the new campaign you mention may have a similar game plan.)
2005 Toyota Prius.
Photo: Auto Deadline.
Meanwhile, I wonder if car sharing would meet your needs. You live in Dorchester and wish to rent a car in the Boston area. If my wild between-the-lines reading is correct, you want a car for an occasional trip, probably relatively near your home. Car sharing would be perfect. Car sharing is an organized way to share the burden (environmental, economic, and otherwise) of automobile use with complete strangers. You don't have to do the organizing: car-sharing businesses have sprung up around the country and the world. (Some are run by volunteers, in case you do like to organize.) The cars are maintained and insured by someone else, and, depending on your locale, may be hybrids, or even cute, trendy MINIs. Doesn't that sound divine?
The car-sharing business model can vary. Generally, you pay a membership fee plus mileage and/or hourly fees when you use a car. The annual membership fee at one company, Flexcar, is usually about $35 per year. You choose a rate package with usage fees that range from $9 per hour to anywhere from $42 to $700 per month, depending on how much you want to drive. Not so pricey, huh? Even discounting the costs of purchasing a car, making repairs, and filling the tank, I bet you pay the equivalent of a mid-range car-sharing rate for car insurance alone -- and live in fear of getting one more "moving violation" and losing your coverage.
With shared cars, you won't have to worry about any of that. The cars are parked in neighborhoods around the city. You just reserve one near your home using the phone or internet, and return it on time when you're done. In short, all the convenience of a personal automobile without the hassle. If you joined a program with a hybrid, you'd get twice as much bang for your eco-buck: an efficient car shared among one giant family. Take the leap.
Encouragingly,
Umbra
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Comments View as Flat
claurence Posted 7:44 am
22 Feb 2005
Zipcar
Zipcar, a Boston based car sharing company, has Toyota Prius Hybrids available for rent by the hour or day. Check them out at www.zipcar.com.
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Steve Gutmann Posted 8:19 am
22 Feb 2005
Car sharing in TIME Magazine this week.
First: full disclosure. I work for Flexcar (www.flexcar.com), one of the leading car sharing companies in the US.
Anyone interested in carsharing should check out last week's TIME Magazine. There's a 4-page story with information about how it works and why it can dramatically improve the urban landscape (example: each carshare vehicle put into service replaces 6-11 private cars). The article also profiles several people and companies that use Flexcar to avoid the costs (typically $703/month, plus parking, according to AAA) of owning a personal car.
My wife and I have been using carsharing services (and haven't owned a car) for the past 6 years. The key to making a "car free" lifestyle work is carefully choosing where you live. Carsharing (vs. owning a car) works well if you live in a neighborhood where:
- you can walk to many basic services (e.g. a grocery store)
- you can ride transit or a bike to work (Flexcar doesn't work for commuting)
- there are carsharing vehicles nearby
In other words, choose a relatively dense, mixed-use neighborhood.Interestingly, many of Flexcar's members DO have a car. They join anyway, in order to have convenient, automated, hourly access to a decentralized fleet of cars, pickup trucks (who doesn't need a pickup once in a while?) and minivans.
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jdhlax Posted 8:26 am
22 Feb 2005
Good First Step
Car sharing is an excellent step in the direction of eliminating cars and driving completely, which should be our goal.
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renewables Posted 11:45 am
22 Feb 2005
Try car sharing! It's changed my life!!
Just wanted to give a little encouragement for all of those out there who can't quite get themselves to try car sharing.
I had often thought about doing joining Flexcar on my own but was worried it wouldn't work for me so I never signed up myself. Then last year the nonprofit I work for became a Flexcar business member. Flexcar has changed my life, and this is no joke. Before Flexcar I drove to work almost every day just in case I needed a car for errands or meetings. The times I actually needed my car for errands was EXTREMELY rare, but as office manager I needed to have that coverage.
Since joining Flexcar I have purchased a bus pass every single month and I take mass transit to work regularly. This not only has saved me money (no parking! no gas!) but has also reduced car traffic into downtown. I couldn't have done this without the flexibility that Flexcar provides me. It is truly freeing. Do I use Flexcar? Hardly ever, but when I have needed it it has worked great!
In addition, our nonprofit is actually saving money by using Flexcar instead of renting cars or reimbursing employee's for mileage for business travel.
A wonderful side benefit of this is that it makes me feel better about my life since this is a very positive thing for the planet. This has literally taken one car off the road at least 5 days a week (I'm also driving less on weekends) and I'm saving money at the same time. How much better does it get than that!
I encourage everyone in an area with a car share program to check it out and give it a shot. It is fantastic!
David Wolf
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josh1068 Posted 11:26 pm
22 Feb 2005
Zipcar
I'm a big supporter of car-sharing and Zipcar in particular....Jean, definitely check out Zipcar (www.zipcar.com.) Zipcar is the country's biggest car-sharing service, with more than 425 cars all around Boston, as well as New York, Washington, DC and cities throughout the east coast. Zipcar is available right in Dorchester and in dozens of neighborhoods throughout Boston and outlying areas. And not only does Zipcar offer gas/electric hybrids like the Toyota Prius, but you can also reserve from more than 20 makes and models of some very cool cars. Rates start at $8.50 an hour or $59 per day, and there are some great discount plans available. Gas, insurance and parking are all included.
It's incredibly easy to use, too...accessing and using a Zipcar is as simple as getting cash from an ATM. In minutes or up to a year in advance you can reserve Zipcars online or by phone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When you become a member Zipcar sends you a cool "Zipcard" that you use to simply unlock the door and drive away.
When you participate in car-sharing, it's also important to remember that you're doing something wonderful for the environment whether you reserve a hybrid or any type of vehicle. I read in the paper just last week that Zipcar did a survey that shows each Zipcar takes over 20 vehicles off the road. This results in less congestion on the roadways and fewer emissions in the air.
Good luck, Jean!
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pesling Posted 2:09 am
23 Feb 2005
Chicago's I-GO Carsharing
I-GO Carsharing in Chicago has Honda Civic Hybrids. www.igocars.org
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David Roberts Posted 2:23 am
23 Feb 2005
kids
I've often pondered trying one of these services, but I've got a kid, and as far as I know none of the cars contain car seats.
I suppose they are generally targeted toward young, childless urbanites, but there's certainly a huge family market out there, seems to me.
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Steve Gutmann Posted 9:50 am
23 Feb 2005
Carsharing with Kids
Dave-
It's difficult to make carsharing work with kids, but it's not impossible. Flexcar has quite a few members with one or more children, myself included. Most of them use Flexcar as their second car (vs. their only car) but some DO live "car free."
The key to making it work is simple: location, location, location! I'll describe my family's setup because it's what I know best, and is probably pretty typical:
- the 3.5 of us (including a 2 year-old and a bun in the oven) live in a dense, mixed-use neighborhood with great transit service and several carsharing locations nearby.
- my wife and I both commute by transit or bike every day
- we found childcare within walking/biking distance of our home
Our daily routine (including daycare dropoff & pickup) does not involve a car. When we do need a car (e.g. to visit friends or grandparents in the suburbs), one of us gets a Flexcar, picks up the other two at home, and off we go. At the end of the outing, two of us get dropped back off at home, and the other returns the Flexcar. We often combine these outings with errands and use the car for a full day. (There are daily, as well as hourly, carsharing rates.)All of this may sound difficult to someone who drives their kids all over the place, but it's actually pretty wonderful. Our lives seem to have a more sane pace than most other families we know. I'm sure we don't pack as much into every day as some families, but that's ok with us.
Also, we figure we're saving $400-$600/month, so we can afford to take pretty nice family vacations.
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AndrewEcopledge Posted 9:40 am
24 Feb 2005
There already is a campaign!
Jean doesn't need to brew up a new campaign. There already is a campaign to get rental car companies to buy hybrids and other fuel efficient vehicles. Rental companies account for about 10% of all new vehicle purchases in the USA. They buy over a million cars a year, and then resell them when they are one year old. This industry could provide a great jump start to the hybrid market. But at this time, they need a bit of a jump start to make the long term commitment to buying these cars.
Ecopledge is asking Hertz to take the first step. You can read more about the campaign here, and you can send a letter to the CEO of Hertz telling him that you want to rent hybrids by clicking here.
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