Renting a Hybrid Car

Car rentals have been around for long and most people know how to rent a car. However renting a hybrid car is a relatively new concept in car rentals and many people only have a vague idea about it and therefore they don't consider renting a hybrid car when they need a rental car.

Few people know that in addition to being environment friendly renting a hybrid car can also save you a lot of money if you are going to travel long distances. If you are planning to own a hybrid car or if you are thinking whether you should buy one then renting a hybrid car can provide you a good opportunity to test one, because you will be testing its performance on real road conditions rather than a short test drive.

Now-a-days most reputed car rental companies maintain significant inventories of rental hybrid cars. However the availability of rental hybrid cars may vary from place to place. With more and more people becoming environment conscious and the increasing concern about global warming the demand for hybrid car rentals has been increasing steadily. To cater to this demand reputed car rental companies like Hertz, Avis, Enterprise, National, Budget and Fox Rent a Car are offering hybrid car rentals at various locations across the United States.

The popular models of hybrid cars available for rental purposes are the Escape from Ford, Camry, Prius, and Highlander from Toyota and Insight and Civic Hybrid from Honda. Newer green car models are being introduced from time to time. The best way to check the availability of rental hybrid cars is to visit the websites of the rental companies. The data posted on the website may not be current and if you need the car very soon then you can try the toll free numbers of the car rental companies to get the current availability details. You can make you bookings online also.

Unless you have a specific model in mind choose the smallest hybrid car that will fit your needs. You will usually get more than fifty miles per gallon and that comes to around six hundred miles on a full tank. With high fuel prices this can save you a lot of money. The added advantage is that most hybrid cars emit zero levels of greenhouse gases at low speeds as they run on electric motors. Hybrid cars cost more to rent but this is easily offset by your savings on gas. In California people driving hybrid cars can drive in car pool lanes even if they are alone in the car.