Europcar teams up with Nissan for electric rentals

Europcar is teaming up with Nissan to offer electric vehicles for hire. Low emission rental vehicles are nothing new for Europcar (or many other rental agencies, for that matter); models such as the Toyota Prius have been part of its 225,000 strong fleet for years. However, it seems to be the first time that a rental company and car manufacturer are jointly offering a design that’s not just low emission, but no emission. After introducing electric versions of existing models, Nissan plans to develop entirely new models that will be made available through Europcar. The company hopes to offer a wide range of zero-emission vehicles at all the usual rental locations like airports, train stations and local kiosks by the end of 2010. Besides helping Europcar stand apart from other rental companies and providing Nissan with a guaranteed market for a large number of electric vehicles, the alliance will give consumers the opportunity to try out an unfamiliar product in a real-world setting. (Related: Europcar lists CO2 emissions on customer invoices.) Spotted by: airlinetrends.com