Avis Budget Group add to their Fleet of Hybrids

At the airport in Dallas-Fort Worth, the Avis Budget Group said last Thursday that they will add 25 Toyota Prius hybrids this summer, in July, to their rental fleet. These new vehicles are powered with an electric battery while you are moving at slow speeds, and then the gasoline engine will kick in when you reach a higher speed. As the price of petrol continues to rise, these hybrid cars are growing in popularity.

Since the brands of Avis and Budget share a fleet together, their customers can choose their hybrid rental from either one of the companies. The Avis Budget Group has a 2,500 hybrid fleet out of 375,000 that they have nationwide. The rates for a hybrid are normally higher by $15 to $20, compared to non-hybrid vehicles that are about the same in size.

Other car hire brands in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and in other Texas locations already offer their customer the option of hiring a hybrid, like National, Hertz, Enterprise, and Dollar. Avis and Budget first made their introduction of hybrids on the east and west coasts and later in Chicago. According to a spokesman for the company, due to the central location of the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, they chose this spot as their next market for hybrids. He also remarked that they know that there is a demand for hybrids in that area, and they knew that as soon as they had the vehicles there, the utilization would be too.