Environmental Leader

Enterprise Rent-A-Car has dubbed one of its Cincinnati rental locations as an official “VE85/FlexFuel branch.” On June 28, a similar VE85/FlexFuel branch was announced in Washington, D.C.

VeraSun Energy Corporation and The Kroger Co. announced the opening of 20 VE85 fueling locations at Kroger convenience stores in Ohio and Kentucky.

In July, VeraSun and Enterprise announced that they would work collaboratively to promote the use of VE85, VeraSun’s branded E85, in Enterprise’s FlexFuel vehicles. The partnership concentrates Enterprise’s FlexFuel vehicles near VE85 fueling locations.

Enterprise’s fleet includes 41,000 FlexFuel vehicles that can burn E85. The Cincinnati rental location will have about 25 GM FlexFuel vehicles available for rental. Enterprise is providing in-car materials showing the locations of Kroger’s Ohio VE85 fueling stations, and offering information on the environmental benefits of the fuel.

Enterprise will also designate car rental locations in Columbus and Dayton as VE85/FlexFuel branches that are committed to fuel their FlexFuel vehicles at Kroger’s stations.

In addition to Enterprise’s fleet initiatives, car rental giants Hertz and Avis have announced environmental initiatives recently.

In addition to publicizing data about its fleet, the company has decided to push efforts such as its underwriting the planting of 50 million trees over the next 50 years at a total cost of $50 million dollars into the forefront of Enterprise’s public image.

Seventy-two percent of travelers want rental car companies to offer hybrid vehicles, according to a recent Priceline.com survey of rental customers.