Weekend Getaway? Rent a Hybrid!

So, you are going on vacation (or even a business trip for that matter . . . anything that involves renting a vehicle) and you want to be more environmentally friendly than the next guy, i.e., you want to outdo the Joneses this time around. Well, more and more car rental companies are offering a fleet of hybrid vehicles from which to rent. Avis now offers the SmartWay Certified Vehicles, Hertz has the Green Collection, and Alamo (including its other brands Enterprise and National) claims to have the "Largest Fuel Efficient Fleet" in the nation.

You are probably thinking that this is all fine and dandy but "how much is it going to set me back?"

Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not as simple as one might like it to be. For one, there are the standard vehicle fees that can change the total cost of the rental, e.g., day of the week, age of the driver, auto insurance required, personal liability insurance, etc. With all of these costs aside, there are two main factors affecting the cost of an environmentally friendly auto rental: 1) Location, Location, Location and 2) Type of vehicle (i.e., is it a small hybrid or a large hybrid SUV).

Here is what we are going to do now: We will choose 4 cities nationwide and one weekend and one set of 3 weekdays in which to rent a green vehicle. For the sake of argument, we will look at the weekend of July 10th-13th and the weekdays will be July 14th-18th. Lets now choose a major, well-populated city, i.e., Los Angeles, CA, another major city but this time one in which the cost of living is much lower, e.g., Philadelphia, PA, and medium-sized city, i.e., Nashville, TN, and lastly a smaller town in the heart of the country, i.e., Missoula, MT.

Here are the results, first for the weekend:

Location	Company	Standard Hybrid	Full Size Hybrid	SUV Hybrid
Los Angeles, CA	Enterprise	$110.00	$105.00	$115.00
	Avis	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Hertz	$85.49	$75.49	N/A
Philadelphia, PA	Enterprise	$48.99	$58.79	N/A
	Avis	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Hertz	$47.49	N/A	N/A
Charlotte, NC	Enterprise	$90.00	N/A	N/A
	Avis	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Hertz	N/A	N/A	N/A
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN	Enterprise	$85.00	N/A	N/A
	Avis	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Hertz	N/A	N/A	N/A

and now for the weekdays:

Location	Company	Standard Hybrid	Full Size Hybrid	SUV Hybrid
Los Angeles, CA	Enterprise	$110.00	$105.00	$115.00
	Avis	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Hertz	$111.49	$106.49	N/A
Philadelphia, PA	Enterprise	$48.99	$58.79	N/A
	Avis	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Hertz	$117.49	N/A	N/A
Charlotte, NC	Enterprise	$90.00	N/A	N/A
	Avis	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Hertz	N/A	N/A	N/A
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN	Enterprise	$85.00	N/A	N/A
	Avis	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Hertz	N/A	N/A	N/A

I think that there are few important things to notice (keeping in mind that this is not a scientific study, and the results may very well change over the coming months):

1. Avis seems to not actual offer hybrid vehicles, but instead offers some vehicles that are more fuel efficient than others (i.e., smaller cars over larger cars - you can rent a Ford Focus instead of a Ford Fusion . . . thank you captain obvious). This does not seem like a good tactic . . . especially when the other major auto lenders are advertising their new hybrid fleets.
2. Location is key. The above quotes are all for airport rental locations. You may find a slightly cheaper rate at a nearby location since there are often additional fees incorporated into the total cost of renting a vehicle at the airport itself.
3. Bigger cities have more hybrids. It is no surprise to me that Los Angeles has more hybrid vehicles offered than the other cities studied, given that the entire southern California area is home to more than 10 million people, and air quality is at the forefront of both local and state governmental policies.
4. Shop around. Enterprise does not seem to change their rates from weekday to weekend (except for the fact that you may qualify for a 50% discount on a weekend rental, depending on the model in which you are renting). But, Hertz offers lower daily rates on the weekends. If you pay close attention to the two tables above, it actually becomes less expensive to rent from Hertz on the weekend!!! Something to keep in mind next time you are looking for a hybrid rental.

OK, you are probably saying, "is it worth it financially?" Well, I cannot answer that for you, unless you put a price of $0.00 on the environment. In that case, you are better off renting the one of the usual vehicles offered. But, if even $10 a day for the environment sake seems reasonable to you, renting a hybrid would cost just as much as a regular automobile after accounting for the drastic change in fuel mileage. For example, lets say you are going to Philadelphia and will rent a car for 2 days and will drive 500 miles. At 50 mpg with the standard hybrid, that is 10 gallons of fuel. So, at $2 gallon you will spend $20 on gas. Adding that to the rental fee, you end up at about $120 before tax. So be it. If you don't care about the environment, maybe you will choose a non-hybrid and lets give you the benefit of the doubt and say you will rent the cheapest car (for the weekend above, this is a Hyundai Accent, or similar, at $37.49 per day). And for the sake of argument, we will assume 25 mpg (you will have to be in the city at some point) bringing your fuel cost to $40 in total. Do the math . . . even without the $10 environmental cost that I artificially imposed, the cost is about the same as the hybrid, i.e., ab0ut $120 . . . I think this is a no-brainer.

So, the moral of the story is: if you want to be environmentally friendly on your next vacation, business trip, or what-have-you, consider renting a hybrid, its more economical than you might think!

An Introduction

We live at a point in history in which tomorrow's cell phone out dates yesterday's and one in which the phrase government bailout has become a household phrase. But more importantly, it is a time of change in general, a rapid change to be exact. Not only is our country's economic situation changing faster than a ball falling from the top of Mt. Everest, but the environment in which we live . . . the oceans, the forests, the ice sheets, the deserts . . . is under an immense amount of stress that is caused, at least in part, by human, or anthropogenic, activities. These activities arguably have brought about changes in Earth's climate over the last century, putting enormous pressure on many of earth's biomes to adapt at a pace never before seen. In short, societal actions have changed our climate and the environment.

Scientist to this day do not agree on the extent to which anthropogenic activities have shifted climate and altered our environment, nor can they agree on the magnitude of the changes that will occur in the next century. Climate is a puzzling topic to study, one inundated with complex physical, chemical, and biological formulations of how things work. It is my hope to simplify the topics most relevant to climate and the environment in a manner that can be easily understood by all. And, potentially more importantly, provide tips along the way so that you can make better, more educated decisions in the future to help mitigate the changing climate and environment.

Thank you for reading!