Leaf Coming Soon To a Hertz Near You
Beginning early next year you'll be able to treat yourself to a day or two behind the wheel of Nissan's upcoming Leaf electric car to see if you and an EV might be suited for each other.
Just visit your local Hertz car rental office - if you live in one of the select areas of the U.S. and Europe in which the company plans to add the 5-passenger car to its rental list.
Hertz spokeswoman Paula Rivera told Green Car Advisor that the company hasn't settled on how many Leafs it will order, which offices will offer them or even how much the daily rental will be (we'll bet that it will be considered a premium-priced product of some sort), but does expect to do a good business.
The company also plans to place the Leaf in the fleet for the Connect-by-Hertz car-sharing programs that it runs in 150 U.S. locations as well as in several major Europen urban areas.
It's likely that the initial Hertz EV rentals will be in regions where Nissan is selling the cars, making California a likely hot spot.
Hawaii, where the Leaf's 100 miles of range will take a tourist a long way, also could be a hot spot for Hertz' Leaf rentals.
Nissan is launching the Leaf in December in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Tennessee, with other states to follow as production ramps up through 2011 and early 2012. Hawaii was recently selected as one of the first states to get Leafs in 2011.
In addition to rentals to green-minded customers, Hertz sees a market in Leaf rentals to people who would like to try a car on the road before committing to buying of leasing.
The Toyota Prius brought the company a lot of that kind of business in the early days of the hybrid.
Source: Edmunds.com
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