The Renault Fluence Z.E. electric car

Renault has delivered two Fluence Z.E. electric cars to two car service firms in London.

Climatecars and greentomatocars are both car service firms (private hire services) whose operations are focused in Central London.

Given that, the move towards electric cars makes perfect sense, especially given the Fluence Z.E.’s 115-mile range and the relatively good availability of charging points in London – compared to the rest of the UK, at any rate.

All four Fluence Z.E. will be based in Central London, with both companies ensuring their costs and electricity usage are minimised through charging via the Source London network and their own in-house charging points.

Co-Founder and Managing Director of greentomatocars, Jonny Goldstone, commented:

“We’re delighted to have taken delivery of our first fully Electric Vehicles and have already taken bookings for 40% of our EV capacity with orders from corporate customers for  Zero Emission shuttle services. We fully intend to add more Zero Emission vehicles to our 250-strong fleet this year.”

Nicko Williamson, founder and MD of Climatecars said:

“The addition of the fully electric Renault Fluence Z.E. to Climatecars fleet marks a crucial step towards our aim of being the worlds first zero emission car service. We are really excited to have partnered with Renault and are looking forward to offering a 100% electric car service to our customers. Climatecars electric vehicle fleet will be operating in Central London and will be priced at the same level as our normal hybrid fleet”.

If you would like to try hiring an electric car to try driving one yourself, then check out our electric car hire page.

If you will need to hire a car, then early booking is essential – especially if you want to get the cheapest possible rates.

Car Hire Demand ‘Sky High’

The south-east of England will have tens of thousands more visitors than usual – and many of these will need independent transport so will want to hire a car. Even if you are not attending the Olympics, you could still get caught out by the extra demand for hotels, car hire, van hire and airline tickets.

If you will be visiting the UK between the 27th July 2012 and 12th August 2012 and will need to hire a car, we’d recommend starting now with a quote from our car hire booking system, which searches all the major car hire suppliers in London and the UK – click here to get started.

Van Hire Shortages Expected

UK businesses and visitors needing to hire a van should also plan ahead.

Van hire companies are forecasting that there will be a shortage of hire vans in and around London during the Olympic period, which also coincides with the annual busy season for van hire.

If you will need hire vans during the Olympic period, try VanRental.co.uk for a van hire quote.

• London Heathrow Airport
• London Gatwick Airport
• London Luton Airport
• London Kings Cross Railway Station
• London Marble Arch

The electric cars available for hire are Peugeot iOns and Europcar is currently only allowing single day hires so that they can control vehicle recharging and ensure the cars are properly recharged.

The reality is that recharging points are still relatively scarce, even in London, and have not yet become sufficiently standardised to be easy to find and use – although some other companies, such as Hertz, do allow multi-day hires where the vehicle is recharged by the customer.

As a zero emission electric car, the Peugeot iOn is exempt from the London Congestion Charge and generates no CO2 emissions when in use.

Commenting on the announcement, Ken McCall, Managing Director of Europcar Group UK, said:

“Electric vehicles offer huge opportunities for motorists to save money, especially for city driving where they are congestion-charge free and where the stop-start of heavy traffic consumes more fuel”, said Ken McCall. “But for many they are not sure if electric will be truly convenient for them. Car hire is a great way for drivers to put electric to the test – and we have the innovative electric Peugeot iOn’s available at a number of our locations to make it easy for motorists to try before they buy.”

Visit www.europcar.co.uk for more information.

Hertz says that although demand for electric car rental from retail customers is steady, it is corporate demand that is really driving the growth of the service. For corporate customers, electric car hire is an easy way to reduce organisational CO2 emissions and meet environmental targets.

It is also the case that most corporate journeys are pre-planned to a certain extent, meaning that drivers can choose electric cars knowing that charging facilities will be available. Currently, Hertz offers three electric car models – the Chevrolet Volt, the Nissan Leaf, and Smart Electric Drive (not all models may be available in all locations).

Hertz currently has 50 electric cars for hire in London, New York, Washington and San Francisco but says it would need to increase its electric fleet to 2,000 – 3,000 cars to meet demand. Hertz is already planning to roll out electric car hire in new locations such as Shanghai this year and says it hopes that car manufacturers will be able to supply enough electric cars to meet this high level of demand.

If you have always fancied trying one or would perhaps like to buy a very special gift for your other half, there is now an easy way to do it.

Caterham is operating a Hire-A-7 service through Caterham dealers around the UK. Running until the end of October each year, the Hire-A-7 service is available from the following locations:

• Caterham South, Surrey;
• Caterham Midlands, Leicester;
• Open Road Hire, Scottish Highlands;
• Mark on Europe, Swindon;
• Seven Hire, Gloucestershire.
• Roadsport Hire in Yorkshire;
• Highlands Caterham Hire in Scotland;
• Hire 7, Northern Ireland.

Sevens are priced from £175 for one day’s hire (including 120 free miles) or £325 for two days (including 240 free miles), vehicles can also be loaned from Friday to Monday.

For more information, visit www.caterham.co.uk.

However, there are sound business reasons for this kind of large-scale purchasing and car companies are increasingly widening their range to meet a more varied set of needs. Here are three examples that have all been announced recently.

Europcar To Offer Vauxhall Ampera Across Europe (including UK)

Europcar is to offer customers the chance to hire the Vauxhall Ampera (Opel Ampera in continental Europe) from the end of 2011.

The Ampera, which is one of a new breed of range extender electric cars – basically electric cars with on-board generators to power their motors when the batteries run out – will be made available from November at Europcar branches in Germany. These will be followed by branches in the Netherlands and Belgium, with France, Portugal, Italy and the UK getting the car from the beginning of 2012.

Sixt – BMW Car Share Scheme To Expand

Modern car share schemes are becoming increasingly popular and several large rental companies are now operating their own schemes. Hertz has recently revamped its ‘Connect By Hertz’ scheme, renaming it ‘Hertz On Demand’ – it is now even possible to hire vans by the hour from selected B&Q branches in the UK, through Hertz On Demand.

Sixt also has its own car share operation, which is being run – as befits a German company – in partnership with German car manufacturer BMW. The scheme was first launched in BMW’s home city of Munich and is now set to expand to other European cities, including Berlin, plus hopefully London, Manchester and Birmingham in the UK.

The scheme is administered by Sixt and the cars are provided by BMW; the company’s smallest model, the 1-Series, is used for the scheme and drivers are charged 25p per minute to use the cars within the city bounds. There are no other charges as long as the car remains within the city limits – Sixt takes responsibility for keeping the cars fuelled up; all cars have satellite trackers fitted.

Hertz Customers Go Faster With Lotus Evora

Most car hire customers want something affordable and middle of the road – something that won’t cause any trouble and won’t use too much fuel. Sometimes, however, that just is not enough.

Maybe you are just plain rich, or perhaps you want a treat for a special occasion. Whatever the case, Hertz understands your need and is determined to meet it. Hertz’s Fun Collection is a high octane mix of premium, high performance and all-round desirable cars.

The most recent addition to the Adrenaline fleet is the Lotus Evora, a highly acclaimed model that seems to live up to the Lotus tradition of lightweight performance and handling. Other models already available include the Fiat 500 Abarth and Volkswagen Scirocco.

I don’t think the Hertz Evoras will be quite as hot as this one, though!

Click here for the latest BBC Travel News report for the UK’s airports

Things seem to be improving as I write, but if you have been or will be affected by this problem and are concerned about having to cancel or rearrange your car hire arrangements, the following companies have announced that their normal cancellation fees will be waived for cancellations caused by ash:

Europcar

A message on Europcar’s website states that customers cancelling because of the ash clound can get a full refund but that they should call 08713 849 847 (24 hours) to cancel – cancelling online via the Europcar website may incur an automatic £45 fee.

Europcar says that it currently has enough capacity to meet customer demand for alternative travel arrangements, including one-way hires between UK airports. Call 08713 849 847 for further help.

Avis

Avis says that it will not be charging a non-cancellation fee for customers who do not show up due to ash disruption – so you do not need to call them to cancel your booking.

Avis also says that pre-paid bookings during this period that cannot be taken due to ash cloud disruption will be fully refunded. Email customer.care@avis.co.uk to claim your refund.

Sixt

Sixt says it is currently waiving cancellation fees on pre-paid bookings at all UK airport branches which are affected by the Icelandic ash cloud.

Anyone with any questions or wishing to book a one-way car hire between UK airports should contact Sixt’s reservations team on 0844 248 6620 (7am-4am).

Other Companies

It is worth noting that these companies are providing refunds for customers who booked directly with them. If you booked through a broker, such as Holiday Autos, you may find that a different cancellation policy applies.

If you have any news about other car hire companies’ refund policies for ash cloud disruption, leave a comment below.

Hertz has committed to introduce electric cars to selected rental fleets in the USA this autumn and in Europe by 2011. One of the first models used is likely to be the Nissan Leaf, which is one of the first 100% electric cars to hit the mainstream market.

Hertz hopes that by making such cars available to the public to try, it will enable a much wider range of drivers to try electric cars than would otherwise be the case. This should hopefully encourage greater take-up of these models – a percentage of the drivers who rent an electric model will decide that they would like to buy one. Without the chance to use an electric car uninterrupted for several days, they might not be able to make this decision.

Hertz’s relatively large-scale purchases of electric cars will also help support the manufacture and development of current and future models, helping car manufacturers to accelerate the development of future models.

Hertz’s electric car hire scheme is due to launch in the US this autumn and in Europe in 2011.

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Airline passengers have been hit hard by disruptions this year. First it was unusually large amounts of winter snow, then it was volcanic ash from Iceland. Now, there’s the threat of a BAA strike that could close down several airports over the August bank holiday weekend (click here for the latest news from BAA).

The knock-on effect for car hire companies has been considerable – and a fair number of travellers have found themselves out of pocket due to cancellation fees levied on them when they didn’t (couldn’t) turn up for their pre-paid car hire bookings as a result of cancelled flights.

Car hire firm Sixt has decided that this is a little bit unfair and has announced that:

SIXT have decided to waive cancellation fees on pre-paid rentals, for any customer booking directly with SIXT who may be affected by the strike.

Sixt says:

“we’ve grown tired of events and circumstances affecting travellers who choose to book a hire car with Sixt and are not wanting to punish customers for circumstances that are out of their control.”

Potential car hire customers should read this announcement carefully, however. The cancellation fee waiver only applies to customers who have booked pre-paid rentals directly with Sixt – not customers who booked through a broker or who didn’t choose to pre-pay.

Despite this, it’s a welcome move from Sixt – hopefully other car rental companies will follow suit.

If so, Budget has an offer that might interest you. Budget’s Go Overseas! club is aimed at regular overseas car hire customers and offers you a number of benefits. The best of these is one day’s FREE car hire for every five you pay for.

You’ll also get access to Budget’s most competitive rates, plus you’ll receive a monthly newsletter with details of exclusive Go Overseas! deals and offers. Interested? Click on the link below to learn more and then look for the “Holiday Home Car Rental” link: