In the midst of ever-rising gas prices. both companies and individuals alike are increasingly choosing hybrid vehicles as their service of choice, due to a jump in offerings from various agencies. What was most commonly known as a typical black Lincoln sedan is becoming more and more popular as a compact, fuel-efficient ride.

One such “green” limo service is the new “Driven Eco”, which operates under the mantra that they are “committed to proving there does not need to be ‘two worlds,’ Black Car or Green Car.” The firm provides the white-glove services synonymous with black car limousines, in a hybrid.


Rental agencies such as Enterprise offer incentive programs for customers wanting to rent a hybrid or offset their carbon emissions. For example, Enterprise is underwriting the planting of 50 million trees, or 1 million trees a year over the next 50 years in national forests around the country. In a one-year program ending June 2008, Hertz is donating $1 to the National Park Foundation for every rental from their “green collection” (31-mpg or higher), with a guarantee of $1 million.

Obviously it is a small step - converting 1 percent of available rental cars to hybrids will have little effect on global climate change - but it’s one more small sign that going green and efficient is becoming a business imperative.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hertz, and Avis-Budget are among the “big agencies” that have all recently added a few thousand hybrid vehicles to their fleets. Enterprise, the world’s largest automobile rental fleet in the world with nearly 700,000 vehicles, utilizes over 4,500 Priuses. Hertz is aiming to have 3,500 hybrids in their fleet by the end of 2008, and Avis-Budget is not far behind, having just announced the purchase of 1,000 Priuses and 500 Nissan Altima Hybrids.

“That’s a drop in the bucket,” said Chris Brown, editor of Auto Rental News, a publication which monitors the car rental industry. “Let’s face it. The customer is driving this cart. Nobody wants to rent SUVs anymore,” said Brown. “The car rental companies have no choice, so they’re becoming proactive.”

It is becoming more and more apparent, through these types of services as well as others like it, that travelers need not sacrifice their ideals when abroad.