The Hertz Corporation, the world’s largest general use car rental brand, has announced that through its partnership with Italo-NTV, the first European private high speed railway operator, Italo customers will be able to rent stylish smart fortwo electric drives from the Hertz locations at the Rome Tiburtina and Rome Ostiense train stations.

These electric vehicles can be booked from just 8 euros per hour through the website http://www.hertzitalo.it using the special Italo discount code, and will be powered at charging units provided by Enel, Italy’s largest electric utility. The program is an important step in the Manifesto di Roma Capitale (Rome Manifesto) to increase the number of electric vehicles and other sustainability initiatives in Italy’s capital city. Electric vehicles in Rome have free of charge access to designated parking areas and no ZTL (city center zone) limits.

Michel Taride, President of Hertz International and Executive Vice President, Hertz Corporation: “Hertz is committed to delivering smart mobility and sustainability solutions for business and leisure travellers. We strongly believe that offering the smart fortwo electric drive to Italo customers is crucial to increase acceptance for this new form of transport in conjunction with train travel.”

“Through our close co-operation with Italo-NTV, the operator’s customers can easily go from the train to electric vehicle to get to their final destination. The smart fortwo electric drive’s offer a fun and perfect solution to move about in the city - and will help support the Rome Manifesto for electric vehicles,” added Massimiliano Archiapatti, General Manager, Hertz Italy.

Giuseppe Sciarrone, General Manager, Italo-NTV, said: “Italo is an eco-friendly train that offers a greener way to travel. The train offers less noise pollution and energy consumption than other forms of transport and is 98% built from recyclable materials - a testimony to our strong commitment to the environment.  Thanks to our partnership with Hertz, we are particularly glad to be able to offer our passengers a sustainable and efficient solution to get around in the city once they step off the train.”

The smart fortwo electric drive offers no compromises in safety, agility, comfort and space. The zero emissions two-seater is powered by a lithium-ion battery developed by Tesla Motors Inc. A fully charged battery is sufficient for up to 135 kilometers of driving fun. The discounted rental rates from just 8 euros per hour for the smart fortwo electric drive are available to Italo customers as part of the exclusive partnership agreement between Hertz and Italo-NTV. 

Hertz is the first car-rental company to deploy EVs and PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric) on three continents - in the U.S. (available to the public in New York, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco), the U.K. (London), China (Shenzhen), and now in Italy. Hertz added the smart fortwo electric drive to its EV fleet in the US in 2010, with the zero-emission car now available in San Francisco, New York and Washington, DC.

As the world’s largest airport general-use car-rental brand, Hertz is introducing multiple groups of consumers - urban drivers, university students, travelers and corporations - to all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. As a result, the company is forming partnerships with automakers, charging-station providers (e.g., Enel), municipalities, non-governmental organizations, corporations and other stakeholders to make EVs easily accessible to consumers.

Hertz plans to increase its global EV presence by deploying vehicles in other countries in the coming months. Hertz Global EV will continue to leverage the company’s rental and car sharing locations as bases for vehicles and charging stations, and tap into its technology - including sophisticated fleet management tools and consumer-facing GPS systems, including Hertz NeverLost in the U.S. - to help form an EV grid.