Enterprise Rent-A-Car announced this week that they will begin to offer completely electric vehicles at 5,000 of their rental locations. The 100 percent electric Nissan Leaf will roll onto Enterprise lots starting in January 2011.
The Nissan Leaf is the first all electric vehicle made available to the general public for purchase. This car requires no gas … that’s right no gas! The cars can be charged using a standard 110-volt home outlet, or a 220-volt or 480-volt commercial charging station. EVs can travel up to 100 miles per day on one charge, which allows for the typical commuter’s travel of 40 miles per day. Does a car that runs on electricity still make you a little nervous? Well, find out the facts here.
The Nissan Leaf is just the first of many EVs Enterprise hopes to make available for customers. In order to accommodate the needs of EV rental cars, charging stations will be installed at select locations. Enterprise is making EVs available in a limited number of branches to make certain that it can properly train its employees to show customers how to use and charge the EVs.
This is just one new initiative in a long list of programs that Enterprise Holdings has established in the past few years that focuses on the environment. Here are some highlights of moves the company has made in the past four years:
- In 2007 the Enterprise Institute for Renewable Fuels was founded to research and develop the creation of biofuels from algae, soybean and camelina. The institute has been awarded approximately $75 million in research grants.
- A commitment to reduce both energy use and energy costs by 20 percent over the next five years through the company’s new sustainability initiative called the 20/20 Vision.
- In 2010, the 5 millionth tree was planted through the company’s 50 Million Tree Pledge, a partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation and US Forest Service.
- Enterprise partnered with TerraPass on certified offset projects that work to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. These projects offset 42,000 metric tons of carbon, which, based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards, is equivalent to saving 4.8 million gallons of gasoline and 98,000 barrels of oil.
- Over the past several years the Taylor family and their companies have contributed or pledged more than $120 million to environmental initiatives. For more information about the full environmental platform, visit www.keystogreen.com.
Lee Broughton, director of sustainability for Enterprise Holdings, which owns and operates Enterprise Rent-A-Car as well as the Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental brands, talked about this new program in a recent press release. “As a company, we are committed to manage our business responsibly and for the long term,” said Broughton. “Bringing electric vehicles to our fleet is one more way for us to leverage our leadership position to balance the needs of our customers, partners and the world around us.”
For more information about Enterprise and sustainability go here.
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Images provided by Enterprise Rent-A-Car.