Embracing New, Clean Technologies
Auto manufacturers, scientists, national leaders and consumers are all seeking better alternatives to gas-powered automobiles. Environmental and economic concerns, the finite nature of fossil fuels, and the need to reduce the country’s dependency on foreign oil are among factors driving this transition.
As a company that owns and operates the world’s largest fleet of passenger vehicles, Enterprise Holdings has a unique perspective and a vested interest identifying the right solution.
1. Alternative-powered vehicles will become a fixture in the marketplace.
2. Alternative-powered technology must realistically satisfy the driving requirements of the American public in order to be successful and sustainable in the free market. Alternatives that do not meet the needs of the American public – whether due to economics, serviceability, availability, or usability – will ultimately be unsuccessful in the marketplace.
At Enterprise Holdings, we are committed to embracing new, clean fuel and engine technologies as they become commercially viable. We want the world to know that when such an alternative becomes available, we will use our fleet to allow it to prove its worth in a free-market setting.
For example, in August 2006, we launched the FlexFuel initiative aimed at maximizing the use of the 73,000 vehicles in our U.S. fleet that have the ability to burn high levels of ethanol-based fuel. These cars employ a technology that allows them to burn E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline that, according to the U.S. EPA, can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 20 percent. Nationally, we have actively deployed as many of our FlexFuel vehicles as possible near E85 fueling stations.
Today, full-electric automobiles are an outcome desired by many people working to deliver viable transportation solutions. Currently, the market is evolving towards these vehicles by embracing interim technologies such as the gas/electric hybrid. Hybrids can achieve greater fuel economy, use less gasoline and have fewer emissions than traditional vehicles. We offer our customers more than 7,000 gas/electric hybrid vehicles. Customers can reserve these hybrids online or by phone from nearly 100 Enterprise Rent-A-Car “hybrid branches,” which carry a high concentration of hybrid vehicles and are located in 30 markets across the country, including the 10 busiest U.S. airports for business travel. And we continue to look for opportunities to procure more hybrids from the manufacturers.
We are already seeing the next logical step in this evolution with the development of the plug-in hybrid. These vehicles offer the benefits of an all-electric car while still providing the range of the standard gas/electric hybrid.
In addition, Enterprise Rent-A-Car offers the environmentally friendly transportation option of hourly vehicle rentals in several major metropolitan areas, a solution many urban residents are seeking in order to limit vehicle ownership, reduce congestion, and address other environmental concerns resulting from the use of vehicles in densely populated areas. Enterprise began offering hourly rentals in some of its Chicago offices in 2005. Since then, the service has been expanded throughout Chicago to Enterprise’s 200-plus locations in that city, as well as locations in other major metropolitan areas including New York, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
In early 2008, Enterprise Rent-A-Car launched its WeCar car-sharing program in St. Louis, enabling downtown dwellers, employees who carpool, or those who use mass transit to rent hybrid cars by the hour, for everything from personal errands to family emergencies. Through WeCar, hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles are parked in designated spots near some of the city’s largest employers, close to busy residential areas, and near public transportation and high-traffic areas.
In September 2008, Enterprise became the first major car rental company to offer a car sharing program across the United States, with a focus on corporate campuses, government agencies and colleges and universities. In addition to its environmental benefits, Enterprise’s partners are finding WeCar car sharing to be convenient, affordable and customizable to their unique transportation needs. Today, Enterprise offers WeCar car sharing on corporate and college campuses, and in several municipal locations throughout the U.S.
We are the first major player in our industry to shift our fleet of more than 600 airport shuttle buses to 5 percent biodiesel (B5). This move by our Alamo, Enterprise and National brands will save millions of pounds of carbon emissions and pave the way for future use of a higher concentration of biodiesel (B20), which we have already implemented in our airport operations in nine U.S. markets.
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