Hertz introduces CNG vehicle rentals in US; Civics and Yukons
12 April 2012
The Hertz Corporation is introducing compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles to its fleet in the US. Hertz will begin renting eight CNG Honda Civics and two CNG GMC Yukons at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City early next month. All vehicles will include NeverLost GPS units to assist renters in mapping local CNG refueling stations.
Oklahoma City is serving as a pilot program for Hertz’s CNG airport rentals program. In addition to having significant CNG fueling infrastructure across the state—approximately 70 existing or planned public stations—Oklahoma is also home to several of the top natural gas producers in the country, including Chesapeake Energy Corporation.
Last year, Hertz introduced the addition of CNG vehicles through Hertz On Demand at Oklahoma State University. Hertz also deploys CNG airport buses at its Los Angeles Airport location and rents CNG vehicles in both Italy and the United Kingdom.
Hertz is committed to providing our customers with a full spectrum of vehicle options to suit their rental needs including clean emission vehicles such as CNG, electric vehicles, as well as other fuel-efficient vehicles included in our Green Traveler Collection. As more low emission, fuel efficient vehicles become available for general use we will continue to expand our rental fleet, reflecting our dedication to offering sustainable travel options.
—Mark P. Frissora, Hertz Chairman and CEO
The new vehicles will be on display at the Oklahoma City Thunder’s home game against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, April 11. In conjunction with the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Green Week, an NBA initiative for environmental awareness, Hertz will also be raffling off 10 weekend CNG vehicle rentals to game attendees.
The expansion of energy-efficient and clean vehicles stems from the launch of Living Journey, Hertz’s global sustainability strategy announced earlier this year.
CNG is a cleaner-burning fuel, emitting up to 30% less carbon dioxide and up to 75% less carbon monoxide. The fuel also typically costs half the price of gasoline and is produced domestically.
They ought to do Utah, too. Utah has CNG infrastructure.
California is supposed to be the leading green State. They
seem to be Johnnie-come-lateys now. CNG stations are few and far-between in CA. They don't have much Flex-Fuel options, either. WUWT?
Posted by: Larzen | 12 April 2012 at 04:03 PM
Watch that ball start to roll!
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 12 April 2012 at 04:06 PM
Car rental could refuel without much problem. Make them dual fuel so people have an option and they could be popular.
People are told to fill up before bringing the car back, so that the rental people don't have to go out and do it. Just put natural gas compressors and tanks on the lot, refill there.
Posted by: SJC | 12 April 2012 at 05:24 PM
We need more NG infrastructure and more flex-fuel vehicles.
Unlike H2, we have too much NG (instead of almost none) and flex-fuel vehicles for NG already exist.
Posted by: ToppaTom | 13 April 2012 at 12:36 PM
Thank you for the share, Oklahoma is also home to several of the top natural gas producers in the country, including Chesapeake Energy Corporation. here's more stuff on this, if anyone is interested http://bit.ly/HRDbFZ
Posted by: Account Deleted | 13 April 2012 at 12:59 PM
If you look at the distribution of natural gas versus gasoline and diesel, you start to see that natural gas is brought to most places by pipe, diesel and gasoline have to be refined and trucked to the fueling stations.
Even with this clear advantage, not many vehicles have been converted to run natural gas in the U.S. Few new vehicles that use natural gas are sold in the U.S. each year. Why?...because it is different and if they are not dual fuel you have range issues. Then there is the cost of the compressors and dispensers in a fleet yard or home garage.
It is my contention that any time you ask millions of people to change in a major way to suit someone else's vision, you will meet resistance. If they do not have to change, why should they? Just because you, me or someone else says that they SHOULD change. That is not a formula for leadership nor success.
Posted by: SJC | 14 April 2012 at 09:05 AM
If it weren't for the current price premium for NG vehicles and the scarcity of public fueling stations, the current delivered-to-customer price of NG of around $1/gge would be very attractive to many millions of car buyers. Perhaps the use of stoichiometric mixures plus EGR instead of lean combustion will allow the use of conventional catalytic converters and address that part of the cost issue.
The extended range issue is significant. One of the factors is that an engine with a compression ratio optimized for NG can't run on regular gasoline. Perhaps it could run on E85, which might be a good enough work-around. Or, make sure that there are enough CNG stations on major roads to address range anxiety. We should be good enough at making skid-mounted equipment that turnkey systems requiring only NG and electric connections could be rolled out within a couple of years... if it was a priority.
Posted by: Engineer-Poet | 14 April 2012 at 11:55 PM