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EV Rental Cars, the only car rental company in the United States to offer environmentally friendly vehicles, now boasts a fleet of new Honda Civic hybrid-electric vehicles at Budget Rent a Car's Reagan National Airport rental location in the nation's capital. It is the first car rental company in the nation to have a fleet of hybrid Civics.
"For the business traveler concerned about fuel economy, energy security, and perhaps the condition of the environment, we believe there is a way to travel that is both economical and environmentally responsible," says Jeff Pink, chief executive officer of EV Rental Cars.
The acquisition of 20 hybrid-electric Civics, the world's first mass market hybrid, is the latest move by EV Rental Cars to use the airport rental market as a way to introduce environmentally friendly and fuel efficient vehicles to business travelers.
Pink points to Warner Bros. studios as an example of an environmentally aware company that is concerned about what its employees drive when traveling on company business. "We do quite a bit of business with Warner Bros., a company that has shown you can be big, have a social conscience, and be concerned about the bottom line at the same time," Pink says.
"Making the highly-efficient hybrid-electric Honda Civic available to our customers is the patriotic thing to do," Pink says. "Offering the Civic hybrid will provide an opportunity for American business and vacation travelers to directly reduce our nation's dependence on imported oil."
The Honda Civic Hybrid is one of three hybrid-electric models available for rent from EV Rental Cars, joining the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius. Also available at EV Rental Cars' Washington, D.C., location is the natural gas-powered Honda Civic GX. EV Rental Cars is adding 70 additional hybrid-electric vehicles to its Southern California fleet at Los Angeles International Airport later this summer.
"We are very proud to continue our partnership with Honda, and are honored that our company can now provide Honda's newest fuel-efficient vehicle in the nation's capital at a time when lawmakers are devising new energy initiatives," Pink says.
The all-new 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid -- the first mainstream vehicle sold in North America equipped with a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain -- has earned EPA city/highway fuel economy ratings of 46/51 mpg. That's 650 miles per tank.
The 2003 Civic Hybrid uses Honda's innovative Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) technology, employing a 4-cylinder gasoline engine coupled with a high output electric motor to provide excellent performance and fuel efficiency. The system's compact nickel-metal-hydride battery module is automatically recharged during braking and deceleration. As a result, the Civic Hybrid never needs to be plugged in.
"Introducing the Civic Hybrid to Washington, D.C., with EV Rental Cars is part of Honda's continued commitment to the environment," says Stephen Ellis, Advanced Technology Vehicles Manager for American Honda.
"Every Civic coupe and sedan, including the hybrid, qualifies as an Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (ULEV). Offering the vehicles for rent is a great way to encourage consumers to try the cars in everyday driving conditions," Ellis says.
EV Rental Cars founded its rental program in December 1998 with 11 electric cars -- primarily GM's EV1, Honda's EV Plus, and Toyota's RAV4 EV -- at Los Angeles International Airport. Since then, the fleet has grown to some 400 environmental cars at 14 airport locations around the country, including San Francisco, Calif.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and Pittsburgh, Pa.
EV Rental Cars operates exclusively at Budget Rent a Car locations. This joint effort has eliminated more than 40 tons of smog-forming air pollutants by renting to more than 70,000 consumers, who in turn have accumulated more than 8.5 million miles on the fleet. Greenhouse gas emissions (C02) are also significantly reduced by hybrid and natural gas vehicles. In the process of renting these advanced technology vehicles, more than 220,000 gallons of gasoline have been displaced that would have been consumed by conventional rental vehicles.
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