Avis will offer its customers the chance to hire and experience driving an electric vehicle in the following countries: France, Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Portugal.

Pascal Bazin, Chief Executive Officer for Avis Europe, explains: “At Avis, we’re committed to providing customers with choice when it comes to mobility and our partnership with Renault is another way in which we are fulfilling this commitment by expanding our fleet to include electric vehicles. The vehicles complement our existing mobility offer, providing an alternative to traditional car hire that will benefit both business and leisure customers who are concerned about their impact on the environment.”

Senior Vice President, Renault Corporate Sales Division, Uwe Hochgeschurtz, adds:  “We are the only European carmaker who is developing a complete range of affordable electric vehicles with our own batteries, our own technologies and our own production system to guarantee a high level of quality and performance. By hiring an electric vehicle through Avis, the public will be able to experience new driving technology and learn about the environmental benefits of electric vehicles.”

Renault has just revealed the first two production models of its electric vehicle range: Kangoo Express ZE, a light commercial vehicle, and Fluence ZE, a family sedan.

Renault’s range of electric vehicles will later be extended by two new cars, exclusively designed for electrical power:

- Renault Twizy, a nimble and practical electric vehicle for city motoring (2 seats – 4 wheels)
- Renault ZOE, a compact and flexible hatchback for everyday use.

The Renault electric vehicles join Avis’ already extensive eco mobility offering. Each car on the Avis fleet is typically only six months old, to ensure maximum fuel efficiency, whilst the average CO2 emissions for cars purchased in 2009 was just 144.6g CO2/Km. The company also offers hundreds of vehicles which run on fuels other than petrol or diesel, while both leisure and business customers have the option to offset their carbon emissions prior to their journey.

With a long history of environmental awareness, Avis has offset more than 156,000 tonnes of CO2 since 1997 by investing in a host of environmental initiatives such as renewable energy, methane capture projects and tree planting, which means the company has been CarbonNeutral® accredited for more than a decade.